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Handhelds Cellphones Intel Portables Technology

Intel Putting 3D Scanners In Consumer Tablets Next Year, Phones To Follow 75

Zothecula writes: Intel has been working on a 3D scanner small enough to fit in the bezel of even the thinnest tablets. The company aims to have the technology in tablets from 2015, with CEO Brian Krzanich telling the crowd at MakerCon in New York on Thursday that he hopes to put the technology in phones as well.
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Intel Putting 3D Scanners In Consumer Tablets Next Year, Phones To Follow

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  • Is the next step to add a 3D printer into the bezel of laptop displays?

  • by Anonymous Coward

    I think this is totally awesome, really I do. But I'm not really sure what I'd use it for.

    What sort of everyday things would someone use a scanner for? (No, scanning a widget to make a 3d printed version of it does not count as everyday.)

    • Why does it need to be an everyday thing? Most smart phone users don't take photographs every day, but they put the camera on there nonetheless.
      Most people don't use Bluetooth every day, but they put it on the device anyway.

      The uses here are for generating 3d objects for games, video, or just for shits n' giggles. From the perspective of engineering this is an incredibly useful feature when doing a primary walk through pre bid on a project.

      At some point the idea of a flat 2D photo will give way to 3d photo

    • by arielCo ( 995647 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @03:02PM (#47949193)

      In a mobile device, and given the usage trends? 3-D dick pics.

    • sexting in 3d

    • by submain ( 856941 )
      The Fappenning. Now in 3D.
    • I think this is totally awesome, really I do. But I'm not really sure what I'd use it for.

      What sort of everyday things would someone use a scanner for? (No, scanning a widget to make a 3d printed version of it does not count as everyday.)

      3d printing is the future, this goes along with that.

  • by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @02:40PM (#47948919)

    Does this mean celebrities will need to use Blender instead of Photoshop in the future?

  • Uses? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CopaceticOpus ( 965603 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @02:41PM (#47948921)

    It's telling that the article doesn't mention one practical application. Intel's next step for 2016: Attempt to create demand for 3D scanners in consumer tablets.

    Perhaps a "Measure My Cat" app?

    • I was thinking... manufactures that sell over priced molded plastic replacement parts will be really annoyed.

    • who cares if its practical its something people want, 99% of what we buy isn't because its practical

      anyone with a 3d printer will be excited by this even if its not an everyday toy

    • The problem with these cameras is that often the data are so noisy that it's difficult to segment anything usable for a modelling environment. Theyre great for rough mapping, augmented reality and for gesture sensing, but for high resolution capture: no. I assume they're using time-of-flight/photonic mixing technology which has exploded in popularity recently now that the sensors are being mass produced. Don't forget they'll be crap outdoors too where background NIR is so high that it swamps the sensor.

    • If you can't figure out a use for this technology, go sit in the corner and let the rest of us talk. Depending on the resolution, this could be used for object identification, for artists and engineers to quickly set up projects, for real estate agents to create quick walk throughs or better descriptions of property. That's just off the top of my pointed little head.

      And of course, for the myriad Rule 34 topics that have already been discussed.

      • ...for real estate agents to create quick walk throughs or better descriptions of property.

        Similarly, if the resolution is good enough, it might let contractors and designers get an accurate model of a room without needing to use a camera and tape measure on every surface.

        • While we're coming up with nonsense ideas - If you put it in your closet, it can pick out your entire wardrobe!

      • I would love an app that can tell me wich of the myrad of threads a pipe connection has. Is it NPT? Is it BSP-T? Is it metric?

    • I can think of two 'applications' that will appeal to the Internets, at least:
      1. Longcat is LONG! (scanner data follows)
      2. I am not a manlet, and I can prove it! (scanner data follows)
  • by Selur ( 2745445 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @02:46PM (#47948985)

    This is a nice thing in the long run (once 3D printers are more widely spread, better and cheaper), but in the short run this will probably cause more trouble than it is worth.
    Thinking about a younger person, like my son, who might scan some of his toys,gimmicks,... and post those scans somewhere and about some lawyer suing because he violated some laws he wasn't really aware of.
    -> once 3D printers are more wide-spread the fun really starts :)

    • Why would this cause problems? the number of uses here are incredible in business fields such as Construction/Engineering/BIM/Architecture/mapping/3d Modelling and gaming.

      Does your son get sued for taking a photograph of his toys? Would he get sued for taking several photographs of his toys?
      Would he get sued for taking a video of his toys?

      That damn video might show the dimensions of the objects.

  • 3D mobile phones (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MindPrison ( 864299 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @02:48PM (#47949029) Journal
    I bought the LG 920 Optimus 3D phone some years ago. Awesome 3D screen, 2 x HD cameras for taking 3D photos. Fun for 14 days, after that...it just became an annoyingly big bulgy battery guzzling smartphone just like any other oversized phone out there.

    3D TV? I so wanted them when they came out. After a while with very little use for them I thought Meh... and after an even longer while, the 3D tv sets went for a few hundred dollars, even in 50" sizes. I still thought...Meh...I'll stick to my old 47" LG full HD tv.

    Same thing with Kinect, fun the first few days, fun to also connect it to the PC and play with all the hacks out there....same issue, technically useless stuff, fun...for a little while, but ultimately useless.

    3D scanners? Meh... it'll probably be another fad, scan your objects, watch them on a 3D screen kind of like my Optimus 3D phone or the Nintendo 3DS...novelty item at best.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      Phones should be stuffed to the brim with as many cheap and innovative sensors as possible. Eventually you'll end up with a tricorder.

  • 1) Remodeling - just walk into your bathroom, wave the phone around, go to hardware store and ask your phone, "How many 4" tiles do I need" 2) Digitize custom Lego models.... or your house. 3) My weed-wacker has a broken plastic bit, scan the bit, edit it to not be fractured, tell someone with a 3D printer to send me an un-broken version. you're welcome.
  • by Overzeetop ( 214511 ) on Friday September 19, 2014 @03:07PM (#47949235) Journal

    There's noting innovative or interesting about this kind of 3D scanning technology. It has no purpose, and will only be part of some "spec war" that goes on in the android phone circles. People just don't need - or want - 3D scanners in their phones.

    Until 2019, when Apple includes the most revolutionary thing to ever occur in a phone - and it's the one thing you can't live without. The i3D module will be what turns the mobile device market on it's head.

    (Sorry for the troll. Sooo many Apple fanbois on my FB feed these last few days. NFC payments, big screens, and optical image stabilization are the second coming, apparently. I just had to lash out.)

    • by swb ( 14022 )

      When Apple does it, though, it will just work and not be a feature either poorly supported by Android or crippled by manufacturer and carrier crapware.

    • NFC payments, big screens, and optical image stabilization are the second coming, apparently.

      I see what you did there.

    • surely, as has happened before with other multimedia tech, there is an application in the porn market that will make it take off

  • From what little we can see in that single photo of the output it looks like the home 3D scanner produces blurry, inaccurate objects with lots of artifacts and errors. Wait a minute. That will fit right in with the current state of home 3D printers. Score!!

  • And I guess you can only use it with the intel super-bloat app which ships with your device, and has a trial of 40 days, after which it costs money, and needs an intel.com account.

    Will there be free drivers or at least a datasheet?

  • The best way to generate interest is include it with something the consumer would buy anyway and let them tell their friends what they did with it.

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