3D Printing is the Future
These days the biggest bottleneck in 3D Printing something is getting the model file. Most people get models from Thingiverse, design them on OpenSCAD or the like or use a tool like AutoDesk Photofly.
Real Time Dimension Accurate Scanner
Y Combinator startup Matterport has invented a small scanner, pictured above, that can scan any space or object and create a 3D model.
“We turn reality into 3D models and our scanner is 20 times faster and 18 times cheaper than any other tool on the market,” says Matterport co-founder Michael Beebe, “We are creating fundamentally new technology, like the steam engine or the car.”
Best of all, no precision is needed. With a wave of the hand, the device smartly scans the environment and understands the shapes, features, and placement of everything it scans.
The team highlighted that its scanner is currently being used in the construction, film making, and real estate industries.
Beyond just scanning a room, the implications for a 3D scanner can be quite cool. You could scan any object of your choosing and send the model to a 3D printer to get a 3D replica of virtually anything in the world.
Matterport Website - cool promo video of an attractive lady using the scanner.
What does this mean for 3D Printing?
Not much else is know like when these will be released for production, but my guess in the near future folks will eaily beable to purchase a scanner ready to make models for their 3D Printer.
One day I reckon we will be able to take an object apart (say a complex toy for example) and then scan and print the parts to make a nice duplicate, or even spare parts when it breaks.
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