LuxInside reveals the innards of luxury products by using 3d scanning technology. Here you can see the inside of a Leica M8 digital camera. Image:LuxInside Looking inside Gibson's Les Paul electric guitar, you can see how simple the object really is. Image: LuxInside The metal used to structure Louboutin shoes was created for the aviation industry in World War II. Image: LuxInside The red spartan-like helmet you see above the Dyson vacuum is due to interference from metal and plastic during the scanning process. They decided to leave it for visual effect. Image: LuxInside The 3d image reveals the airtight gas tank of an S.T. Dupont lighter. Image: LuxInside This is a Cadolle corset. Doesn't look comfortable, does it? Image: LuxInside This Louis XIII cognac can cost $300 a shot in Las Vegas. It retails for more than you have in your bank account. Image: LuxInside

A high-end S.T. Dupont lighter can cost upwards of $1,000—that's a pretty steep price to pay for something you can otherwise just pick up at the corner gas station. Sure, Dupont's lighters are beautiful and often made from lavish materials like palladium and gold, but it does make you wonder: What’s inside that metal shell that makes them so incredibly pricey? The allure of luxury items has always been rooted in mystery and fantasy, which is shame because arguably the coolest part of these products— the innovation, craftsmanship and technology employed to make them— ends up hidden under a glossy, cosmetic exterior. “The principle of luxury objects is that that all the traces of work must be invisible,” explains Laurence Picot, a Paris-based photographer.

But what if you could actually see the airtight gas chamber that distinguished Dupont lighters during World War II? Would it make you more appreciative of the objects you just assumed were overpriced and pretty? That’s the hope of LuxInside, a collective of artists and scientists who are using 3d scanning technology to peer inside some of the most opulent items on the planet.

After working at various fashion magazines, Picot became curious about the technology behind the items she saw every day. “I wanted to show the craftsmanship and the innovation inside a project,” she explains. “Because normally in luxury, people think it’s only about craftsmanship, but craftsmanship is full of patents.” She figured we could learn a lot about how quality is manufactured just by looking inside the products. So Picot enlisted the help of Dr. Jean François Paul, a radiologist, software designer Sylvain Ordureau and graphic designer Ricardo Escobar, who through their various areas of expertise created a series of stunning photographs.

>“The principle of luxury objects is that that all the traces of work must be invisible.”

The images you're looking at are actually the product of years of testing and tweaking 3d imaging software. Because traditional medical scanners are made to work with organic matter like skin, the metal and plastic found in the objects LuxInside wanted to explore left images full of white noise and blurred resolution. The team realized if they wanted to peer inside a Dyson vacuum cleaner or a Les Paul Gibson guitar, they were going to have to update the software. Ordureau, who owns a company that creates 3d imaging software, altered the filters to decrease the fuzz created by inorganic matter. This allowed the team to cut through the outside of items like a Hermes saddle, Louboutin shoe and Leica camera. Using the still-life photographs Picot shot of the original objects, Escobar blended the 2d and 3d images together to form a distinctive outline while still enhancing the product's guts.

The complexities on some of the images are actually pretty revealing. If you look at a Hermes saddle sitting on a horse, you can feel the quality leather and see the precise stitching. But once you look inside inside, you’ll learn that the saddle's structure is formed from light carbon fiber, and its padding uses the same memory foam technology as high-end beds, which give the saddle the effect of being instantly “broken.”

Likewise, the crystals on the Louboutin high-heel make for a cool visual effect, but the x-ray scan reveals the metallic structure of the shoe, which relies on metal that was originally patented for the aircraft industry. “Good quality high heels are still made with metal from suppliers of aircraft industries,” Picot explains. Interestingly, Gibson's famed Les Paul electric guitar is surprisingly simple, relying on a limited number of wires and knobs to create its loud, signature sound. The images are undoubtedly fun to look at with their colorful, apparition-like qualities, but more than that, they're a fascinating peek at the secrets of some of the most iconic products in the world. “People think if we speak about innovation we’re breaking the dream,” says Picot. “But that’s stupid because the stories behind these objects are incredible.”

The exhibition is currently showing at the Sofitel Copacabana in Rio De Janeiro until Sept. 20 and is opening in Sao Paulo Oct.1. You can buy LuxInside prints here.