Energy News  
3D Scanner Gives The Full Picture

Museum collections could be enhanced by CSIRO's 3D scanning technology.

Canberra - Nov 27, 2003
Displaying jewellery and other small products for sale over the Internet or managing museum collections of plant or animal specimens could be revolutionised by new CSIRO technology for scanning and displaying 3D objects.

The CSIRO scanning technology will allow users to scan small objects and obtain a digital image file which is three-dimensional, and so gives extra information about the object's surface shape and texture. The file could be emailed to a friend, put on a website, published in a print catalogue, or displayed in an art gallery.

"We live in a three-dimensional world. Yet the images we see in magazines and on websites are just two-dimensional. They literally give us only part of the picture," says Anna McDonald, a Commercial Analyst at CSIRO.

Flatbed scanners are commonplace in many home and office environments, representing the third largest segment of the PC peripherals market. But they can presently only work in two dimensions. Flat objects such as photos, house plans, and letters are 'scanned' and displayed as a two-dimensional digital image file.

The new CSIRO scanning technology generates a three-dimensional image, but one which doesn't require special glasses or other equipment to view.

"There are 3D scanners available now but they tend to be large and expensive, requiring technical lighting and camera set-ups. They are used in very specialised industrial applications to record shapes for computer animation, model the exteriors of vehicles and so on," Ms McDonald says.

The CSIRO 3D scanning technology is unique in that it could be easily incorporated into designs of new mass market flatbed scanners, fax machines or photocopiers, making 3D scanning accessible to the home and office user.

"Instead of 3D scanners just being the lumbering pieces of equipment that they are now", says Ms McDonald, "you could fit one of these on your desk".

"They would also be relatively inexpensive - costing only a small premium over conventional scanning technologies, rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars you'd pay for existing 3D scanners", she said.

CSIRO is approaching manufacturers of imaging and office equipment to discuss licencing and sale of the technology. There have already been enquiries from overseas.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
3D Scanner at CSIRO
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Space Technology News - Applications and Research



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Industry Team Achieve New Communications Technology With AESA Radars
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 12, 2006
A team comprised of three leading US aerospace and defense contractors has demonstrated an innovative technological use of active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for high-bandwidth communications.







  • American Superconductor To Help Power Electro-Thermal Chemical Gun Project
  • Prospects Brighten For Future Superconductor Power Cables
  • Corporate Renewable Energy Purchase Makes History
  • The Hydrogen Programme Launched In Russia

  • Yucca Mountain Site Must Make Use Of Geological Safety Net
  • New Jersey Physicist Uncovers New Information About Plutonium
  • Complex Plant Design Goes Virtual To Save Time And Money
  • Volcanic Hazard At Yucca Mountain Greater Than Previously Thought





  • NASA Uses Remotely Piloted Airplane To Monitor Grapes



  • National Consortium Picks Aviation Technology Test Site
  • Wright Flyer Takes To The Sky In Las Vegas
  • Aurora Builds Low-speed Wind Tunnel
  • Yeager To Retire From Military Flying After October Airshow

  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program
  • Boeing-Led Team to Study Nuclear-Powered Space Systems
  • Boeing To Build Space-borne Power Generator
  • New High-Purity Plutonium Sources Produced At Los Alamos

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement