Gonna talk to some of the electronic engineering guys at the University to see how would they create such a device, if it´s under budget I´ll frigging build it. Nurbs patches are far easier to lay out over a live model.

Roland´s LPX-250 model is selling at about 9000$, and it´s one of the cheapest around. (non-contact model)
So I guess this could be a cheaper alternative, although time costly .. not to mention what it could do to your mental health.