Ein
Sr Member
I've had enough of you jerks nagging me in my thread about this item, so I'm making an interest post! (I'm kidding, I love you guys, and thank you for being so supportive).
The portable Voight-Kampff scanner is a device that "K" (Ryan Gosling's Character) uses at the beginning of the film to identify the Replicant that he is hunting.
We get to see it briefly in use in the film, during which time it shows off some of the other practical effects. The screen on the side of the device illuminates a bright white, but does not appear to be an actual functional display. The LED beneath the camera lens element also strobes a blue-white-possibly-red cycle during the scan.
This was subsequently confirmed by a video from Tested.com during an interview with props master Doug Harlocker, who reviewed the devices a bit more specifically. A green screen version of the scanner was among the collection, suggesting that the intention might have been to CG something onto the display. Ultimately, nothing ever does actually get shown on the screen during the film, leaving us to speculate what it might have shown.
(I am totally kidding about the above and have nothing for the deepest respect for Mr. Harlocker, whose work (and the work of his team) is exceptional. Just playing, yo. Pls notice me).
For real, though, here's what we're looking at in terms of device functionality I'm presently designing for:
- Working spring-loaded slide for the top 'camera' component. Push button, device extends; push the device back closed and it will latch shut. Easy enough.
- Device will power on only when camera is slid out. Likely to be a contact or limit switch that is triggered when the top extends outward.
- Working front-facing "scanning" LED - likely going to be using a neopixel or similar RGBW LED for this, along with an Arduino microcontroller to strobe the output. Going to be on a push-button switch on the front of the device - it'll scan for as long as you hold the button down.
- Red SMD LED(s) on the device where necessary to mimic the lighting on the screen-used prop. These will be on during the entire period the device is on.
- Working screen. This is the biggie. Following the conclusion of a 'scan' - i.e., when the button is released - data will populate onto the screen with images of an eye, identity/DNA analysis, warnings, etc. If I have the memory on my microcontroller, I will likely try to have randomized functions for what information is displayed on the analysis (i.e. Replicant, Not-Replicant, etc).
- Rechargeable. I'm building this around a Lithium Polymer battery and the final device will hopefully be able to plug into a micro USB cable to recharge. I have hated having to engineer ways to get into my older props so I could swap batteries out, and the LiPo batteries just have more capacity.
Other design specs and features considered:
- The shells of these devices are likely going to be resin cast and painted. The last project I did was actually cold cast in graphite, which I quite liked because it meant that any scratches or damage to the prop ended up weathering the device realistically (Graphite scratches a dark metallic color. Think like a pencil). Not sure if that's going to be my approach yet.
- M2 screws are going to be used where possible to physically secure device components (hatches, rails) in a fashion that mimics the screen-used prop.
- Lenses (particularly the camera one at the front of the device) are probably going to be cast in clear resin, but otherwise non-functional.
- The metal rails that the device slides out on are, for the time being, expected to be laser-cut plastic that is then painted. I'd love to make them out of actual metal (sheet aluminum, for example) but my laser cutter is not powerful enough to cut those materials.
- The visible circuit board component on the device is going to be nonfunctional - purely aesthetic - and probably will also be a piece of laser-engraved plastic.
As a rule, I almost never make one of these threads unless and until I'm sure I know I can do the run. Usually, I want to at least get a prototype of the item made, so I can "lock in" the features I intend. As of the initial date of this post, I'm still in the designing stage, and have yet to make a physical item. Most of the work going on right now is to make sure I can jam a working screen into this device without complication. The ultimate feature set of this item may change. That said, I figured having an interest thread would be useful because it would give you guys something to follow if you wanted to eventually buy one of these. Moreover, it gives me an idea of how many I might want to make. My last run, the Titanfall Data Knives, rounded out at a comfortable 10 items - I get a sense there may be more demand for these.
As of right now, I'm ballparking the cost for a fully-finished item to be in the $250 range. This figure may totally change depending on what the final item specs end up being. We'll see just how hard these end up being to make, and I reserve the right to adjust this number up or down as appropriate once I get everything sorted out. I'd like to make custom boxes for these the same way I did with the Data Knife, if only because I think it adds to the professionalism of the final piece and, lets face it, they have to ship in something.
I'd encourage those of you who might be interested to drop a post here so that you get subscribed to the thread for updates. I'll be continuing to work in the main thread and will update this one as appropriate as we near the possibility of a full run. When that time comes, I'll be looking for people to place deposits (Probably around $100) so that I can purchase all of the necessary materials, electronics, and other hardware to start production. I'm probably only going to be doing a limited run of these, but I'll make that call once I have a better idea how difficult these will be to make to the standard I want.
EDIT: Nov 22, 2017 @Remote_People was nice enough to PM me a current tally of the interest list. I was remiss in not keeping a running list in the OP, but I'll try to fix that moving forward. Was more focused on getting work on the actual prototype done!
- Scadge
- Mylodon
- Enigmatic
- propmaster2000 (kit)
- prop factory
- veektohr
- UnitPD
- Mr Webber
- Jedisushi
- MattgomeryBurns
- danielwolx
- Soulinertia
- tennantlim
- podman
- benhs1898
- ferchitsu
- PhillipD
- Johnnyfl
- MurdocXXL (2) with Stefan Jones (*also slot 35)
- GasmanR
- KramStaar
- mackle89
- Sundowner
- aeonpulse
- PAULH (kit)
- Buch
- NedSkywalker
- Andymac84
- masterchief0185
- Birdie
- RhinoActual
- Kurt237
- Kylash
- DVD Connoisseur
- *Stefan Jones
- Sarednab
- sstnickg
- Belmekor
- TomVDJ
- C0mmand3rC0dy
- blastmaster
- Lutts
- FuseNova
- Trooper_trent
- Lanboy
- Hairyloft
- Version1138
- apocalyptickids
- Hall86
- ApostleofColor
- Padawan311
- hbw60
- Remote People
- mburkit
- glottis
- Marv
- Mookie (2)
- cyberblock
- Sikes
- Vaders Legion
- saladking
- Fragment
- Indierevolver
- ThadExMachina
- Timtastic
- mmbmg653
- darthwhitey
- pucknell
- circa1964
- nickytea
- BR12819
- SpeedRacerx
- Borax (kit)
- tmax
- SentientPie
- GRINCH
- Helixios
- BradWright
- asavage
- Enormicon
- Marcuskelly720
- Riskbreaker
- the Pawn
- zsherman
- CalamitysChild
- Ridley
- Bbabylonia20
- Clutch
- wayouteast
- Caboose1510
- MAJSmith
- Georgedawestie
- McVoight (2)
- klytus
- TomVDJ
- rickhoward
- NerfHerderDL44
- captainsolo
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