One of the most challenging things about designing a doll is to decide on a balance between looks and poseability.
The design was done using software such as ZBrush and then printed out on a 3D printer. After the parts were printed, I discovered that the looks of the body hindered the articulation so from there I slowly modified the design of the body to create a balance between looking good and being articulate.
The Smart Doll Body
A balance between looking good and posing good
Body Design
Designing our sculpt in 3D had many advantages including the ability to refine our sculpt that affects the overall look and feel on a micron level.
I designed the body of Smart Doll to reflect my vision of how I feel a fashion doll body should look like which is why the proportions are different from other dolls in the same genre.
Characteristics of the female Smart Doll body are long legs and arms, wide hips and a slender neck, small head with a slightly exaggerated forehead which gives our models a younger look.
Characteristics of the female Smart Doll body are long legs and arms, wide hips and a slender neck, small head with a slightly exaggerated forehead which gives our models a younger look.
Posing
Smart Doll is designed to be articulate while maintaining form. Many other dolls in the same class have a parting line in the middle of the torso which I wasn't so fond of so I designed Smart Doll to hide the parting line behind the bust line which provides a much more natural form.
I designed the knees to not bend more than 90° because when they do the knees would have split open looking not so great.
I designed the knees to not bend more than 90° because when they do the knees would have split open looking not so great.
Triple Axis Joints
There are a few new concepts that Smart Doll introduces - one is the Triple Axis Joint. As you can see from the design of the foot - there are 3 axes which enables Smart Doll to stand firmly on the ground when her feet are slightly apart - without this joint design, only the edges of her feet would touch the ground.
The arms play a very important role in expression when posing so it was also important that the wrists had a Triple Axis Joint too. You will notice a little pocket in the hand joint - this is actually there for folks who want to place a magnet inside for holding oddly shaped accessories.
Not as many cup sizes as Starbucks but just enough
By default, all female Smart Dolls come with an S sized bust which do not have headlights and are perfect for T-shirts.
In the photo above we can see the Medium bust on the left, Small bust in the middle and Large bust on the right. The Medium and Large busts look similar but the Large has more volume on the sides.
The Medium and Large look great in a bikini or when in birthday suit mode but don't look too good in a T-shirt as the headlights look like they are going to poke somebody's eye out.
The arms and head are designed to be easily removed by the owner - once removed, the busts become interchangeable.
The arms and head are designed to be easily removed by the owner - once removed, the busts become interchangeable.
Due to customer requests, we now also sell painted busts too.
Internal frame
The dynamic posing abilities of Smart Doll is made possible thanks to a combination of the outer shell body sculpt and the design features of the internal frame known as "Mirai Frame."
Mirai Frame
Mirai Frame is made from POM (Polyoxymethylene) which is recognised for its high strength, hardness and rigidity. The spine employs the Jeton Joint which not only enables a wide range of movement but is also lightweight.
While the frame is hidden away below the outer shell, I designed Mirai Frame to look good as a stand alone model too employing the least amount of screws as possible by employing a snap fit design.
The injection mold for Mirai Frame is crafted in Yamagata.
The injection mold for Mirai Frame is crafted in Yamagata.
Smart Support Socket
The frame comes with a hole called Smart Support Socket located just above the base of the spine which not only enables dynamic mid-air poses with the Smart Air Stand (sold separately) but also provides additional stability via the telescopic stand that comes included with Smart Doll.