Microsoft has basically figured out a way to turn the average smartphone’s rear camera into a 3D scanner – no additional hardware required.
Advertisement
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its research partner through their MobileFusion project. MobileFusion is notable for a number of reasons: it doesn’t require any special attachments, nor does it require an Internet connection, and it is something any smartphone user could utilize.
Added Pushmeet Kohli, a principal research scientist with Microsoft Research: “Everything happens on the phone itself”.
The outcomes are photographs detailed sufficient for a 3D printer or for fast sharing on social media.
Taking a 3D scan involves pointing a smartphone’s standard camera at an object and moving it in a circle until a 3D model has been produced.
When the application will be released to users worldwide, they’ll be able to scan in 3D anything they want while traveling or working, and then share that 3D image to their friends and family.
For those excited about the increasingly close frontier of augmented reality, the applications of an easily accessible 3D scanner like MobileFusions are exciting to say the least.
AutoDesk’s 123DCapture app allows you to create your own 3D scans.
For the research project, they primarily used an iPhone 6 to demonstrate that a mobile phone could be used to generate 3D models, but they also tested its performance on an iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. What do you think about the potential that MobileFusion has for both those individuals interested in 3D scanning in general, as well as those who have an interest in 3D printing?
Advertisement
The project is called MobileFusion and researchers are now trying to get it running on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Unfortunately, MobileFusion isn’t available to the public just yet, nor are their firm plans in place to make it available in the near future.
