It’s quite incredible to think how quickly 3D scanning technology has come in only a few short years. Usually 3D technology was only used in the medical field, now the number of applications for 3D scanning has gone wild. Imagine a future where every consumer’s table and smartphones had 3D scanners built into them. Intel, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers envisions a future just like this and it all begins next year.
Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich spoke at MakerCon in New York, where he revealed that the company is to integrate their RealSense technology in all of their new tablets in 2015. Krzanich says that the company’s goal is for a consumer to go out and buy a phone with this capability and perhaps within two or three years they’ll be able to put it on a phone. The idea is to capture anything and everything you like.
Intel’s team demonstrated the RealSense technology on stage using a human model. A full 3D depiction of the model slowly appeared on the screen. The 3D models can then be changed around with software or sent to a 3D printer. Intel has announced a contest which they hope will spur on the development of innovative applications for their 3D scanning technology, The Intel RealSense Technology App Challenge 2014. For those of you looking for a tablet with this RealSense technology in it, the Dell Venue 8 7000 series, which is the thinnest tablet to date at just 6mm thick, will be the first offered, and it was just unveiled last week.