Burning Man is almost upon us and people from around the world are convening upon Nevada for the event. For those going, you might want to check out the dome put up by ReAllocate. It houses a fantastic art project that combines 3D printing with modern drone technology.

The interactive art exhibit is called “Project: Blue Sky.” Attendees will find the entire project housed inside a dome where they will find a station set up with Kinect for PC devices. From there, the computers will scan the attendee’s body and come up with a 3D model. It’s pretty basic so far, but things get really interesting from here on out.

After being scanned, the attendees will be given a GPS transponder. They will be asked to leave the dome and go enjoy the rest of what the festival has to offer. During that time, 3D printers will begin making a custom statue of the person’s body. Once it’s finished, the statue will be placed inside a container to be delivered by drone. The GPS transponder will begin to buzz when the drone is overhead and the attendee can claim their custom 3D printed statue.

What’s really inspiring is that the dome at Burning Man will be traveling around the country to economically depressed cities. The staff at ReAllocate hope to create sustainable businesses and put people to work. Each city will be graced by the dome, and hopefully more 3D printing projects, for 10 weeks.

The focus of Project: Blue Sky is not strictly on 3D printing, but it shows an investment in the tremendous potential afforded by the technology. There are people who believe that 3D printing will help bring about new business models that can outlive any economic downturn. It might be too early for 3D printing to make good on those claims, but it’s good to see people trying.

[h/t: psfk]