There’s now at least one new app that takes advantage of Apple’s new LIDAR capability. A few months ago Apple unexpectedly announced a new iPad Pro model equipped with LIDAR. LIDAR is a range-sensing technology that is often used in high-end equipment for 3D scanning, particularly for landscapes. Seeing it appear in an affordable consumer…
Let’s talk about history for a bit. Just last June, archeologists from Cambridge and Ghent produced a revolutionary bit of research for the journal, Antiquity. In it, they described some problems and placed them against the immense possibilities that might come from the use of ground-penetrating radar surveys (GRS) on archeological sites. Here’s where it…
It’s wasn’t too many years ago that inspecting a bridge, evaluating safe passage, or planning a route took a brave soul to volunteer or a less brave soul to draw the short straw. Now, we just send a robot or, better yet, a drone to scope the area and if 2020 will be remembered for…
For some designers and engineers, 3D scanning physical objects to use as reference models can be the ultimate time-saver. Industrial Designer Eric Strebel is one such design professional—and as always, he has some insightful tips for fellow designers and engineers out there who want to kickstart their 3D scanning game—aka, photogrammetry. Photogrammetry is a process…
A report suggests that upcoming Apple iPhone designs may include powerful 3D scanning capabilities. According to a report on Bloomberg, it seems that Apple is expanding its 3D camera technology in a way that might enable some extremely interesting 3D scanning applications — not just applications the company is pursuing. Let’s review what Apple does…
Mobile devices are, more and more, integrating 3D capabilities. There’s 3D modeling, of course, but also social integration, interactive home models, smartphones as 3D printers and 3D scanning (all the way back in 2011!), but it’s the mobile 3D scan apps that are really starting to become more prevalent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkTaCOQ_OjI Qlone: 3D Scan & Print…
It turns out that Microsoft has now officially ceased production of their popular 3D sensor, the Kinect. What does this mean for 3D printing? The Kinect’s purpose originally had nothing whatsoever to do with 3D printing; it was designed as a method for Microsoft’s gaming console system, the XBox, to have an unusual input method.…
Fuel3D announced a new “mirror” 3D scanner that could lead to advanced eyewear applications. The company has long been developing 3D scanning equipment based on an unusual high-speed structured light system. Initially they produced a very effective 3D face scanner, the Scanify, used for both 3D printing and in 3D gaming. Since their introduction in…
3D models of humans are incredibly useful for designing wearable products, ergonomic studies, in-situ renders. The best-looking human scans we’ve used are from 3DScanStore by Ten24, and they’re surprisingly affordable. (warning: frank human nudity)
It was exactly a month ago when Mattel and Autodesk teamed up to introduce the $300 Thingmaker 3D Printer; an updated take on the toy company’s original household “toy” manufacturing device of the same name from the 1960s. Not surprisingly, other toymakers want to get in on the “affordable” digital fabrication revolution, too. Hasbro – a…
Like 3D printers, 3D scanners are also rarely owned by people who don’t use them regularly – and the occasional need to use one rarely justifies the cost of owning one. Unsurprisingly, commercial 3D scanning companies exist for exactly this purpose, but finding one that’s both close and suits your needs isn’t always easy. Thankfully,…
The Creator’s Project kicked off their ReForm series, jumping straight into 3D scanning, but 3D scanning on scale that you likely haven’t seen yet. The short inaugural documentary looks at how researchers are are advancing 3D scanning and motion capture. USC’s Institute of Creative Technology (ICT) is leading the awesome with motion capture tech that…
Although HP officially announced their ‘Blended Reality’ Ecosystem and Sprout immersive computer in late October of 2014, it’s taken a full eight months for the company to follow up with what is likely to be the most important feature of all: a 3D scanner peripheral that enables users to fully-scan 3D objects. The “all-in-one” computer,…
For anybody who has been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, then the MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for cadjunkie Premium members), this downloadable video series includes everything you need…
After taking a look at their product design collection, it becomes clear that Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves of UK-based Studio Swine are just as interested in designing their own manufacturing processes as they are with the final product design results. Among other projects that the design team have worked on include furniture that is…
For anybody who’s been wanting to get the most out of their 3D scanner or smartphone 3D scanning app, the new MODO for Repotology series from industrial design training site cadjunkie is just for you. For the low price of $39 ($14 for cadjunkie Premium members), this downloadable video series includes everything you need to…
EvD Media’s very own resident industrial design pro Adam O’Hern (he of Cadjunkie fame) has been busy as of late figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Thankfully, he’s also been channeling that sugar rush into developing scripts for our favorite CAD programs and hacking existing…
We’re always talking about the future of design, the future of technology, the future of MAKING. In a world where LEGOs have become a prototyping tool for building robots in your living room, a world where you can carry a 3D printing pen in your pocket, how do we find the next big thing? MakerGalaxy…
We’ve been following what Matterport has been doing in the 3D Scanner space since they first came on the scene–excited about their debut, saddened by their dropping the handheld 3d scanner and now elated to see what they’ve been up to. In February, they announced how they’re teaming up with Google on Google’s Project Tango,…
The reality of Minority Report-style gestural interfaces has arrived in the consumer market, folks. Intel has just announced that they will be introducing a new lineup of RealSense 3D camera offerings for laptop and tablet designs later this year that will bring “human-like senses to Intel-based devices”. To put it more frankly, the technology (also…
It’s no secret: 3D printing and other methods of digital fabrication are more popular than ever before. From access to 3D printers becoming increasingly easier to 3D modeling tools that even 5 year olds can use, the presence of 3D printing at this year’s Maker Faire highlighted just how far 3D printing has come in…
As reported by SolidSmack last week, MakerBot has announced that the MakerBot Digitizer 3D scanner is ready for pre-order. In the announcement video released today, MakerBot Founder and CEO Bre Pettis encourages you to “blaze a trail into the future…this is an amazing adventure we get to go on together.” So it is.
Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on with Google Glass, one thing is for certain: it will most certainly come in handy at times. Google Glass user Todd Blatt recently used his Google Glass to capture photos hands-free at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The photos were then sent to Autodesk’s 123D…
Aiming at becoming the flagship store for the UK Makers Community, the iMakr store is getting ready for their highly-anticipated grand opening later this month. As previously reported by SolidSmack, the store will stock all things Maker on two stories of retail space. However most importantly, will it be an early example of the ‘office…
For those in the greater London area, get ready to see a whole lot more 3D printing buzz. Today, iMakr announced that it will be opening a two-story, 2500 square-foot 3D printing retail store in Farringdon in Central London. Could this be the ‘office supply store’ of the future? Take off your Google Glass at…
Microsoft just put on the transparent face masks, lined up the sensors and released an updated version of the Kinect SDK. To the high-pitched squeals of (some) developer’s delight, Kinect for Windows SDK 1.7, along with an updated developer toolkit and new Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), is available on the Kinect for Windows website. It’s…
You recall Makerbot’s Shapeshot that grabs shots of your cranial casing and meshes it in mere seconds for you to print? Well, low and behold, Makerbot has now announced their desktop 3D scanner, the Makerbot Digitizer. Bre Pettis announced the news of the prototype on stage at the keynote kicking off this year’s SXSW event,…
Sure, your friends may have been laughing (and slightly scared) back in April when you embedded class II lasers in your checkbones and told them Matterport’s 3D scanning IS THE FUTURE, but now you’ll be the one prepared. News of the Mountain View based, Y Combinator startup raising $3.9 million from a whopping 39 Investors…
ShapeShot can scan a human face in 1/2000 of a second. The result is a high-resolution water-tight 3D-print-ready mesh file. A favorite S.L. Jackson quote comes to mind: “When you absolutely positively got to [scan] every m*f* in the room, accept no substitutes.” And that’s what makerbot store NYC is planning to do: scan every…
Telecommunications! It’s the oldest/newest thing – all the cool kids are doing it – tapping via telegraph, talking via the telephone, even video chatting via Skype – FUN TIMES. But, what about carrying on a conversation with a 3D representation of your pal? Holograms… whatever, it has all been done – we’ve all seen Snoop Dogg…
Handheld scanning. We haven’t seen enough of it. There are a lot of moments when I wish I had a simple, easy-to-use and cheap scanner readily available. Say, I break my favorite cup after trying to escape out the window from wild dogs. Why are there wild dogs in my house. NO IDEA. So, I want to…
So iPhones. Good for 2D imagery. How about 3D imagery? That’s a difficult one. Yet somehow, we can say with some confidence, there’s an app for that! Trimensional is completing the digital to physical process with a new iPhone app that takes scans produced by the app via your camera to 3D printed part on…
The Smithsonian. The Forbidden City of Beijing. You hear these names and perhaps you think of crowds of visitors and old, dusty relics. Oh, and getting completely lost (those museum maps are impossible.) Well, what else do these two places have in common? 3D scanning and 3D printing.
A few low-cost 3D scanners have come out recently – ReconstructMe, Matterport and 3Dfy. These start-ups have utilized the Kinect or a Kinect-like device to make an affordable solution for modelling actual spaces and products. I was ecstatic when Microsoft released the Kinect and then the development software. It’s such a powerful hardware/software combo. It…
Not that they would copy your idea, but yeah, Nike totally ganked the idea you had of replacing yourself with a 21 meter sculpture of yellow balls. Nike strung the massive structure from the ceiling of the Carlton Centre atrium in Johannesburg, South Africa for the last few weeks of the FIFA Worldcup. Designed by…
Just as I was preparing the most delectable post on the HP + Stratasys 3D Printer deal that went down last week, I saw this news pop up in my inbox. Harness your excitement and then start making of pile of the knick-knacks you want to photocopy… IN GLORIOUS 3D. Yes, Ortery Technologies has a…
Prepare your light sensitive skins with ointments and lotions. You WILL be scanned with LIGHT. Don’t worry, it’s more a threat more than a warning. I’ll do it… and so will Kyle McDonald. But not only will he scan you, he’ll show you how to scan everybody and everything you want with pure, radiant light.…
I know. It’s dinner conversation that goes right along with slamming your hand in the potatoes of the person right next to you. POTATO HAND SLAM… “So, What in the world is Qi Pan up to these days at the ol’ Cambridge University Engineering Department?” One word for ya. Rowdiness. The boy has spun out…
It’s so not cool when someone looses a finger or five or when a movie like Body of Lies shows one way it could happen. Fortunately, there are companies working on impressive new ways to give those fingers back. Discover Magazine has an article on Sucking the Real World into your computer via 3D Scanning.…