Startup company MatterPort is doing something we’ve long desired: inexpensive instant 3D scanning of arbitrary objects using a handheld device.
Their solution is software and seems to use an XBOX 360 Kinect as the capture hardware. By moving the device manually around the scan target, the software gradually builds up a highly detailed 3D model of the target, even including textures. Please watch the video above as what they are doing is quite startling.
The implications of this are profound: if this software works, we’ll inevitably see the hardware collapse into a mobile phone. Then we’ll see an explosion of digital 3D models and adaptations. That can only be good!
Via MatterPort
