Japanese tech powers the creation of art -- and profits

Expert engineering is redefining the creative process

20210618 Kazuki Umezawa

Japanese artist Kazuki Umezawa asked Ricoh's engineers to give a volumetric aspect to his anime-inspired drawings. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)

ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- When Kazuki Umezawa saw the volumetric prototype of a figure which had been developed using Japanese imaging company Ricoh's StareReap technology, he was surprised to see how neatly the body parts of characters he had drawn with such wild -- even primitive -- lines and notches had popped up in sharp relief.

"Even though I expected this outcome, I was excited by the immersive feeling it offered when I actually saw it," Umezawa, 36, told Nikkei Asia. "The 2.5D printing complements the creation."

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