“Whether it is the Iron Man heads-up display in his suit or the virtual-reality, holographic-like display on which he moves around inventions and objects with the flick of a wrist, many of us are eager to see computer reality blend with, well, “real reality,” our everyday space. We want to combine the two as seamlessly as Robert Downey Jr. does in the various Marvel films.
Many technology companies have promised (and some are succeeding) to bring us closer to this reality. The Oculus Rift comes to mind. Microsoft has had various iterations, including the latest HoloLens. Autodesk calls it reality computing where you take a physical object, 3-D scan it, manipulate it and study it in the software, then take it back into a physical form with 3-D printing. Zebra Imaging has an amazing way of taking a 3-D model and turning it into a full-fledged 3-D holographic print. HP calls their latest invention, Sprout, which has been covered here by Forbes contributor George Anders.
Disclosure: Autodesk and HP were two of the sponsors of my 3DRV roadtrip last year.
HP calls the Sprout a “blended reality” machine and that sits under the “immersive computing” group. The Sprout machine that I was able to demo had a 3-D scanner on it, bringing it closer to a useful device than others I have tested. The Sprout has Intel Real Sense 3D cameras on it that use a proprietary HP 3-D “Capture Stage and unique 3D capture software.” The Capture Stage is a turntable platform accessory that turns and automatically tilts (15 degrees) to help you capture as much of the object as possible. In the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) video above, you are seeing the Sprout before the addition of this new turntable and software, but it gives you the idea of what’s possible.
In essence, you place an object on the mat in front of the computer screen and the 3-D scanner begins to capture that object and render it digitally. Almost instantly, you can interact with that object and move it around on the screen and on the mat.
This is what we do not see in the movies – how the character gets the object from physical to digital reality. But you can take physical objects and photographing them using your smartphone turn them into a digital 3-D model. There are free apps to do it with your phone or with any digital camera, uploading the photos to a web service that will stitch it together and give you back a 3-D model. HP is making it an all-in-one, relatively easy-to-use system. Granted, the full computing package is around $2,000, but it is still affordable given what you can do with it. The 3D Capture Stage accessory alone will be available $299.
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If you were wondering about going from digital back to physical, HP is working with Dremel to provide an end-to-end scan to print solution with the Dremel 3D Idea Builder printer. Additionally, HP is aligning with print service providers to provide an easy way to order 3D prints for delivery by mail.
We are not as advanced as Iron Man and his virtual reality/augmented reality displays, but even that character has not shown us how he gets the physical objects into digital format. Perhaps he has been using the HP Sprout behind the scenes.
I recently spent 8+ months traveling the USA researching 3D printing, 3D scanning, and 3D design. I manage the About.com 3D Printing site. Find me on Twitter. GoExplore3D is our current project.”
Source: Forbes
