Kinect-based Turntable 3D Scanner Looks Very Promising

We know that the appearance of the Kinect 3D camera hardware, and subsequent open source driver hacking conquest, is a game-changer that brings the real world into much closer contact with the virtual world. But it still amazes us when we see a concept like this turntable-based 3D object scanner that works so incredibly well.

The concept is extremely simple. A box made from foamboard rests atop a turntable. At its center is the object you wish to scan being well-lit by a small LED light source at each upper corner of the box. First up some code and capture data about the sides and top of the object as it spins. To put the shoe back together in the virtual world, he used a modified version of RGBDemo v0.6.0, a Kinect focused project written by Nicolas Burrus.

[A.J] says that the scan comes out pretty well after just one pass, but that’s not stopping him from setting his sights on making this work with three of four Kinects at once. Don’t forget to check out his video demonstration which is embedded after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7LthXRoESw&w=470]

22 thoughts on “Kinect-based Turntable 3D Scanner Looks Very Promising

  1. NextEngine scanners are much more accurate and higher resolution, but they are SLOW! We have one at work, and it scans one section at a time (up to 9) with a single moving vertical laser line. It then attempts to stitch them all together (usually very well and with minimal effort).

    The great thing about the Kinect’s laser projection grid tech is that it captures an entire scene/side in 1/15th of a second (approximately). I cant wait until the next version is released, which will no doubt be of higher resolution.

    Another interesting “scanning” software solution is 3DSOM. Look it up if you’d like. They have a 14 days free trial. It’s silhouette and pixel comparison based, but not real-time by any means.

    1. Are you sure it also does an accumulative increasing of resolution of objects? Because I though that was sort of new, at least I never saw it happen in any video I happen to watch (I did not see all that many of them though), accumulating scene info yes but enhancing the same object I didn’t notice before.

      BTW, I do like your version too, and that’s more available and not one of the many enticing videos MS puts out which then so annoyingly never pan out as you’d hope.

  2. Ah I see what you’re saying. No, from what I’ve seen it just adds point cloud data where it’s missing but doesn’t reevaluate and refine the detail accuracy. That is definitely cool! And definitely secretive and unreleased! :)

    I can’t wait until Nyko releases the zoom lense for Kinect. It allows 40% closer usage for small spaces, which to me, means potentially getting 40% closer to objects I’d like to scan! (I think).

  3. SO, six months later, anything new o report? One suggestion ripped from experience with optics and the David scan kit illustrations: Would it be a Good Idea to substitute numbered target bulls, possibly in a color that your software can render invisible later for the random pieces of tape in the barrel and making the Kinnect move, rather than the object – gives you a better idea of where you are at any time.

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