My "quasi niece" turned 3 years old and I knew that she was getting a Toni box as a present. I had been wondering for some time whether it was possible to give these figures and stories a more personal touch.
I knew that the manufacturer made it possible to "record" your own audio files on so-called Creative-Tonies. However, this did not yet satisfy my desire for creative expression.
Because I had also been interested in photogrammetry for some time, I came up with the idea of making a figure of myself ("Mini-Me") and then linking it to a specially recorded radio play.
I saw the experiment as a kind of hackathon. I had about a week until my birthday. So there was a fixed deadline by which the result had to be ready. The following steps were necessary:
- find out how the chip of a Tonie figure works
- create a 3D scan of yourself
- rework the 3D model so that it can be used as a Tonie figure
- print the 3D model
- extract the chip from a figure and implant it into your own model
- paint the 3D model
- invent your own story
- record the story as a radio play
- finalize the radio play in the editing program
There was a high chance that I could fail at one of the points. Nevertheless, I wanted to tackle the project. The biggest uncertainties were the following:
- would I be able to
- create a photogrammetry scan on a living object that was of sufficient quality to print a respectable figure that would even look like me in the best case?
- would I be able to extract a chip from a clay figure and transplant it into one of my own so that it would continue to function flawlessly like a Kreativ-Tonie? would
- my creativity be sufficient to write a little children's story (thanks to our cat for the inspiration)?
Photogrammetry
The biggest uncertainty for me in terms of feasibility was the Mini-Me figure. I had already experimented with photogrammetry a few years ago. However, the necessary reworking of the point clouds on the computer was relatively large at the time. I had been following the topic from time to time and in the meantime there were also apps for cell phones that promised to simplify the process (I ignored the open questions regarding the data protection of the photos uploaded to the cloud this time for lack of time). I used the photogrammetry app Polycam.
My neighbor helped me take the photos. In total, we took 203 photos from different angles with our cell phones. I had to find a pose in which I could stand completely still for about 5-10 minutes. I wanted my facial expression to look friendly, so I had to freeze my smile for 10 minutes.
The result was better than I had hoped for. The level of detail on the object was surprisingly good. There were only a few areas that needed to be touched up afterwards. For example, the headgear had a hole, my head had a strange point and my ears were too thin for the print.
Reworking the photogrammetry figure in Blender
It was helpful that I was already familiar with most of the processes and tools used in 3D visualization. I had previously gained a lot of experience with various 3D programs - but a good 15 years had passed since then. I used the open source software Blender. Through a targeted search on Google, I quickly found out how to navigate the viewport and how to use the tools I needed. I quickly got to grips with the software and was looking forward to getting back to 3D modeling.
In addition to touch-up work and a little sculpting, the 3D object was given a base and I milled a tunnel into the body, which would later accommodate the NFC chip.
At this point, I didn't know exactly what height the NFC chip had to be at. From my research, however, I knew that it must not be on the ground. In addition, two small magnets had to be built into the base of the figure.
We had the first prototype printed on my neighbor's 3D printer. The result was very convincing and I was now confident that the entire project could actually work.
Creative Tonie with NFC chip becomes a magic Tonie
The Tonie figures are based on a simple technology. An NFC chip (Near-Field-Communication) is built into the figures. The NFC chip is a simple wire coil that encodes a unique ID (number). A reader, which can be found in every modern cell phone, can theoretically read such an NFC chip. What happens to it is up to the software. In the case of the Tonie box, the ID of a figure is read by the audio box. The box then uses Wi-Fi to ask the provider's cloud which audio data is linked to this ID. The box then downloads the file and plays it.
An NFC chip built into a figurine costs a few cents. So you could come up with the idea of simply buying an NFC chip and linking it to the box instead of spending 15 euros on an official figurine that you actually only need because of the built-in chip and then ends up in the bin afterwards. But it doesn't work that simply. Each figure has its own encrypted ID, which must be registered in the manufacturer's system. If the ID is not known to the manufacturer, you can't link audio to it in the cloud.
I was surprised to find a large community of fans on the internet who were baking such creative tonies in the oven to get hold of the chips inside. Sometimes it is not easy to free the chip from its host undamaged. I was therefore grateful to find a person on an online portal who had already done the work and sold the exposed chips directly. So instead of maltreating a Tonie myself, I ordered a single chip from the private seller. It's a shame that the manufacturer doesn't sell the chips directly without the figure. Obviously there are many parents who want to let off steam creatively.
Unfortunately, shipping took longer than expected and I was worried that the chip wouldn't arrive in time and I might end up empty-handed. So I looked for a local supplier and bought a used Tonie, which I was able to pick up directly on site. Unfortunately, I didn't know exactly where the chip was inside the figure. I initially assumed it was in the body and disassembled it accordingly. In the end, however, I found it behind the face. Unfortunately, the pretty figurine fell victim to my impatience and sadly became plastic waste.
I finally had a chip and because I also had the destroyed figurine, I knew at what height the chip had to be. I quickly adjusted the 3D object of my Mini-Mes so that the chip could be placed at the correct height.
The radio play
Last but not least, I was missing a story. Parallel to everything else, I had already collected a few ideas. I quickly completed the story, which went surprisingly quickly. I then pulled my microphone (Rode NTG2) out of the cupboard, which I hadn't used for a long time, and with the first run-through I already had a result that I was happy with. Using the free Audacity software, I was able to cut out a couple of voice overs and add a compressor - and the radio play was finished!
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to mix in any more sounds. I quickly assembled all the parts and did a first test. It worked perfectly. The Tonie box recognized my figure, we were able to load the story onto it and it was played.
The figure was then given a nice coat of model paint, which had to dry overnight. The gift was finished just in time and was a complete success.