A new Microsoft Research project lets people to create high-quality 3D images in real time, using a regular mobile phone, with about the same effort it takes to snap a picture or capture a video.
“What this system effectively allows us to do is to take something similar to a picture, but it’s a full 3D object,” said a Ph.D. candidate at Oxford University who worked on the project while he was an intern at Microsoft Research.
The researchers say the system, called MobileFusion, is better than other methods for 3D scanning with a mobile device because it doesn’t need any extra hardware, or even an Internet connection, to work. That means scientists in remote locations or hikers deep in the woods can capture their surroundings using a regular cell phone without a Wi-Fi connection.
“Everything happens on the phone itself.”
The scans are high-quality enough to be used for things like 3D printing and augmented reality video games.
We can use it to take a 3D scan of something, we wanted to sell online, such as a vase or a lamp, and post that, instead of the more conventional picture or video.
The researchers will present MobileFusion in early October at the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.
The researchers had previously worked on a similar project, called Kinect Fusion, which lets people build 3D models of their houses, offices or even themselves. However, that system requires a PC and other gadgets, making it difficult to do any 3D scanning on the go.
They found most mobile devices had become powerful enough that they could build a 3D-scanning system just using the computational power found on a regular mobile phone.
“The great starting point was to take a sensor that everyone has in their pocket, which is the camera you have on your mobile phone.”
The researchers then developed an algorithm that allowed the camera to act as a 3D scanner, using a technique of taking multiple images that is similar to how the human eye works.
Currently, the researchers are working on making sure the system works with all types of mobile devices, including Windows Phone, Android and iPhone devices.
The researchers said, “They hope to eventually make it available to the general public in some form, but there are no firm plans right now.”
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