Pâte de verre is typically rougher than kilncasting from a larger billet, because you're fusing glass granules without fully melting them together. So you could get a smoother surface just by adjusting the peak kiln temperature.
But yea, certainly you could add a leather wrap underneath.
I've made the source files are available for people to experiment with: it's not a perfect process yet, and I think with some crowdsourced effort it could get a lot more refined. The application would be coloring any 3D print that has a diffuse color/UV map: figurines, product prototypes, that kinda thing.
The camera has a micro 4/3 mount at the moment. The tricky part is that the flange focal distance on the SLO is not to Micro 4/3 spec (or any standard spec), because of the fairly large depth needed for the printed shutter.
It would be very easy to make a lens mount for commercial glass if lens had a larger FFD than the SLO, which is ~41mm.
The only equipment here that might be an issue for most people is the laser scanner. I'm not sure where I'd find one of those outside a university that's accurate enough. The Makerbot one is pretty shitty.
Everything else could be pretty easily sourced. Shapeways can 3d print with very good resolution. You can buy a vacuum forming machine from Ebay for 100 bucks for exactly this purpose, or make one yourself with a heat gun, wood, and a shop vac (there's tutorials on youtube).