Most people nowadays use their smartphone not only for calls but also for sending texts, checking emails, taking photos and playing games. But a research team from Microsoft wants to add 3D scanning to that list.
A new project called MobileFusion is the main focus on the Microsoft Research division. The app will run on off-the-shelf mobile phones and will be using the RGB camera found on most phones to take a 3D scan of various objects.
The Microsoft 3D scan app will work without any added hardware or software. It will not even need an Internet connection. During the capture process, the MobileFusion app will also provide real-time feedback to its users.
According to Pushmeet Kohli, a principal research scientist with Microsoft Research, the app is all you need to take 3D scans and everything will happen on the phone itself.
Microsoft MobileFusion 3D scanning application is promising high-quality scans of objects of various shape, dimension and appearance. The software tool could be used for augmented reality video games, 3D printing as well as everyday photo sharing.
One of Redmond's principal researchers, Shahram Izadi, declared that he hopes people might use the program to scan "the Eiffel Tower while on vacation, then share it immediately with friends and family". He also suggested that users of MobileFusion could take a 3D scan of a product they want to sell online.
Izadi explained that the 3D scanning accessibility will open many different possibilities for new applications of the technology. Since most of the people nowadays already have a smartphone with a built-in camera, the idea of the Microsoft research team was to use in an innovative way that sensor that everyone has in their pocket.
According to Microsoft researchers, most mobile devices today are powerful enough to build a 3D-scanning system using entirely only their existing features. The Microsoft software engineers developed an algorithm that allow a built-in smartphone camera to take multiple images that form a 3D picture. This is similar to how the human eye works, according to Izadi.
Peter Ondruska, the former Microsoft Research intern, said that the MobileFusion project designed a system that allows effectively to take a 3D scan of an object in a similar way you take a picture.
According to Microsoft sources, MobileFusion is expected to make its debut during October's International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality in Japan. When the application will be launched on the market, it is expected to work with Windows-based devices, Android and iOS.
