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CES 2014: 3-D Scanners are a Logical Next Step After 3-D Printers
A number of companies are either selling or preparing to sell 3-D scanners. Aside from fun (but interesting) uses, like duplicating chess pieces or possibly reproducing a miniature of Rodin's famous sculpture, Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone, Matterform anticipates archeologists reproducing artifacts so that students can study them without handling the precious originals. This video is an interview with Matterform co-founder Drew Cox, who was exhibiting Matterform's scanner at CES 2014. MakerBot is also selling a scanner, as are a growing number of others. In fact, even though Matterform talks about being a low-cost (pre-order price $579) scanner for home use, as opposed to a commercial one that costs thousands. There are also several interesting hand-held scanners out there. Sense sells theirs for $399. Structure has one for $349 that's essentially a peripheral for an iPad. And this is just a random selection from a brief Google search. Use "3-D Scanner" as your search term and you'll find multiple Google pages full of 3-D scanners and information about them -- including software being developed at ETH zurich that turns your smartphone into a 3-D scanner.
I seem to remember ~5 years ago seeing a program that could turn your run-of-the-mill webcam into a 3D scanner. It was even open source too! Don't know if this this was it...
I've been using David3DScanner since long before 3D printing was so much as a meme...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Imagine a toddler picking up an object and spinning it around looking at it to learn what it is.
In the same way, AI needs to be able to digitize something by looking at it. You might thing you want a box to digitize things in, but then what if the box is too small?
I think there are going to be two types of scanners. One scanner will just detect a solid object, and consider it a "wall" until it learns further about that object. The other scanner will be one that determines the colors, dimensions, (maybe even hardness/softness) then tries to pattern match that with known objects in its database so the AI knows what it is looking at. Read more here
God spoke to me
I'll wait until I can get a 3D-scanner/printer/copier/fax that does none of those jobs well.
I don't want to make this news sound bad, but 3D scanners are like 3-5 years old already. I studied photogrammetry and for me 3D scanning is like a 7 years playing with its iPhone today. The developement of better 3D scanners only goes to higher scanning density in less time with less HDD space wasted and far higher transfer rates. Limiting factors are platform size but just if you want it locally fix. Mostly you do 3D scanning with mobil instruments or even by DSLR cameras.
so if one scanned what was printed, printed that, scanned that and printed for N cycles (optionally including a grind-it-up for media source for the next generation) then the series convergence no matter if one started with the venus-de-milo or a sierpinski-tetrahedron would be a sphere?
The Smithsonian is already 3D scanning things and sharing them with the public. This is an article from about 2 months ago, but I read a more recent article in the paper the other day..
http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/13/5100190/the-smithsonian-is-now-sharing-3d-scans-of-artifacts-with-the-public
http://cvg.ethz.ch/mobile/press.php
The technology also allows the 3D capture of faces, giving a third dimension to portraits, profile pictures or images of loved ones.
Having a convenient way of getting 3D models of everyday objects, users will now be able to copy real-world objects by scanning a full 360 degree model of an object. The resulting 3D model can be used for visualization or augmented reality applications, or even be used for 3D printing, potentially at a remote location, effectively enabling the user to replicate an object.
so you can now use your smartphone to generate a photorealistic 3-D model of anyone's face, that can be replicated on a 3-D printer as a mask.
Are there any 3-D printers out there that print rubber, or would this still be a 2-step process (print the mould, then make the mask)?
Since this app purports to do all processing on the phone, you could use it on anyone, stream the model back to some parked van, and have a doppleganger ready to go in minutes.... smacks of Mission: Impossible.
One of the foreseeable problems was pointed out by, amongst other people, Cory Doctorow at CCC Congress in 2012 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqkU1y0AYc]. Basically, these devices are comparable to MP3 ripping software, but for things. According to Doctorow a new copyright war could be upon us, and this time we're pissing of more powerful lobbying interests. A lot is possible, but in my experience it's often just too costly to be worth it. The medialab I work for explored this issue last year: we copied a euro-coin with a metal 3D printer. It worked great, except that it cost 30 euros to do.. [http://kunstroof.setup.nl/ (Dutch)]
Counterfeiters can still be foiled -- just use materials that can't be 3D printed such as hardened steel, or multiple types of materials. Then they would have to do the work the old fashioned way.
Then there are things like patinas, corrosion, wood grain, and other factors which will almost always allow someone with a trained eye to find a forgery.
Of course, we will still have the IP issue, and I'm actually surprised that we have not had DRM shoved down our throats, such as requiring all printers to have a chip forcing all files sent to be signed by a vetting committee that will approve/reject things by previous IP, or some other stuff like that. Create a sculpture too close to someone's IP, they won't sign it.
That is a completely different sort of scanner than a small device that scans even smaller objects placed on a turntable.