The concept is fairly simple, and variations of it have been done before. Take a flatbed scanner, build a box for it, find a lens, and create the modern day equivalent of a pin-hole camera. One photographer decided to take this in a slightly different direction. Dan Newton combined a scanner he picked up on eBay with a 8×10 view camera that he had lying around. While there are still a few bugs in the set up, the results are pretty amazing.
Portability isn’t really there. You’ll need power for the scanner, and at least a laptop. So don’t expect to trek to Yosemite and be able to use the camera. The scanner also has problems with motion, since it’s designed to work with static subjects.
I have to say, however, that I love the fact that the whole thing is held together with duct tape.