Until now, 3D scanning was expensive and mostly used by corporations. Now, a new technology developed in Australia by CSIRO has the potential to deliver 3D scanners in our homes, if manufacturers are interested of course.
The CSIRO scanning technology will allow users to scan small objects and obtain a digital image file which is three-dimensional, and so gives extra information about the object's surface shape and texture. The file could be emailed to a friend, put on a website, published in a print catalogue, or displayed in an art gallery.
"We live in a three-dimensional world. Yet the images we see in magazines and on websites are just two-dimensional. They literally give us only part of the picture," says Anna McDonald, a Commercial Analyst at CSIRO.
Flatbed scanners are commonplace in many home and office environments, representing the third largest segment of the PC peripherals market. But they can presently only work in two dimensions. Flat objects such as photos, house plans, and letters are 'scanned' and displayed as a two-dimensional digital image file.
And this will not require special glasses or other equipment to view the images. For example, here is an animated GIF image of a shell. Instead of being flat, you can see the dome-shaped shell.(Credit: CSIRO).
The CSIRO 3D scanning technology is unique in that it could be easily incorporated into designs of new mass market flatbed scanners, fax machines or photocopiers, making 3D scanning accessible to the home and office user.
Now, CSIRO is talking to manufacturers, expecting to license its technology for uses in applications such as flatbed scanners or photocopiers.
You can find additional details on the project on this page.
Source: CSIRO Australia, via EurekAlert!, November 26, 2003
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