Why did you create this site?
We were saddened by the state of materials that are available for sexual education and we are appalled at how difficult it is in some countries to get good information about human bodies. Entirely too many taboos exist around sex and these taboos often prevent people from finding out really critical information about their own sexuality. Also, many people get too much information from consuming pornography, but pornography is really far from sexual reality. Too many people think that men must have enormous penises to be worthy humans and that women should have a particular size or shape to their vulva to be considered normal or attractive. We would like to disprove these impressions by showing what a range people really look like.
Why did two white dudes create a site like this?
Sadly, this is a real question we've been asked more than once. Yes, we are two white dudes with plenty of privilege. We have been fortunate enough to have had access to a good education. Sure, we may not be the people you would expect to create a site like this. But, we decided that we were perfectly placed to invest vast amounts of time and some money into 3D printers, cameras, computers, plane tickets and a myriad of other expenses. Our goal was to create a free site that we hope will have a postive impact on the people in this world. We never made money from this site and had no means to recoup a large portion of the money we spent to create this site. This was a labor of love from us to the world.
Why do you render the models in these weird non-human shades?
We didn't want to make the models in real human skin colors -- computer models tend to look weird with human colors. Then there are considerations of skintones in humans and the complex issues that arise from them. And finally, we didn't want our models to be gendered in the typical pink and blue shades. For these reasons, the colors we allow on our website are clearly not human colors, which avoids all of the problems above.
What is a compound model?
A compound model is when we take two or more normal models, slice them in some way to highlight the difference between the models and then join them back together to form a new model. Model 746625-VLNP-2 is a great example of a compound model, where the left and the right sides of the model were created from two different scans. For the left half of the model, the person was not aroused and for the right half of the model the person was aroused. You can clearly see the difference in the skin texture (goose bumps) and that the labia and clitoris has clearly shifted upward.
How do you create these models?
To create a model, we took many photographs of the model -- from 30 to as many as 150 photos. While the photos were being taken, the model could move at all. Even the slightest movement would disrupt the process to convert these photos into 3D models, which made scanning penises (which move while breathing and even with the heartbeat!) exceptionally difficult. Scanning vulvas was considerably easier since the labia are much closer to the body and therefore move much less. Once we had these pictures we used Photogrammetry software to create a 3D model. The process of creating the 3D model and to post-process the model to fix flaws and artifacts created by the software is more of an art form than it is a science. The process was time-intensive, computing power intensive and requires a fine attention to detail and mountains of patience.
All of these models are available for download. What am I allowed to do with them?
Anything you want, really. We placed every aspect of this project into the public domain via a Creative Commons CC0 dedication. This means that you are free to print these models and sell them if you want! You can also use these models or surfaces in your own creation -- please do get creative! We do ask that you give us credit if possible and ideally retain the model codes that are embedded in the models. This allows people to look up the models you used and find out more information about them.