Photon 3D Scanner Will Let You Turn Real Objects Into Printable Objects

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The Photon 3D scanner is a self-contained laser scanner that creates point clouds of real objects, allowing you, in turn, to create printable files of things you build or need to copy. It is $399 on Indiegogo and looks amazing. In short, you have no idea how badly I want to order one of these right now.

Built by Adam Brandejs and Drew Cox, a pair of Torontonians, the device uses a small laser and a turntable to scan all the surfaces of an object. The scans are converted to STL or OBJ files – filetypes usable by most 3D printers – and can be printed.

Similar projects are popping up these days, including a Makerbot-backed scanner – but none look as polished as this model. Some features:

The Photon scanner uses a high definition camera and dual laser lines to capture 3D scans in as little as 3 minutes. The Photon can scan objects up to 190mm x 190mm x 250mm (7.5″ diamter x 9.75″ height), and yet folds up into a compact size. It’s lightweight, portable, and compact, making it easy to integrate into your workspace.

I’m fascinated with the concept of in-the-field 3D scanning and it seems that we’re getting there faster than ever. We’re living in a world of miracles and wonder the fact that you can spend four Benjamins (or centiloonies or whatever they have in Canada) and get a 3D scanner is amazing to me.