Posted 11/23/09 at 11:45:02 AM by Paul Lilly

Engineering eggheads from the University of Cambridge have developed a system called ProFORMA (Probabilistic Feature-based On-line Rapid Model Acquisition), which is capable of turning any standard webcam into a pretty powerful 3D scanning tool. A video demonstration shows how it's done, which you can view here.

What's pretty amazing is that the 3D models are constructed in real-time as end-users slowly rotate objects with their hand in front of the webcam. The engineering team says the system works by "calculating the Delaunay tetrahedralisation of a point cloud obtained from online structure from motion estimation, which is then carved using a recursive and probabilistic algorithm to rapidly obtain the surface mesh."

Put more simply, the system generates and displays partial models of an object on the fly, which then allows the user to plan how to manipulate the object to generate additional views. The finished product is a 3D representation of the object that can then be tracked with rapid movements.

ProFORMA Homepage

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Posted 05/04/09 at 04:54:18 PM by Andy Salisbury

While book scanning has become a pretty common process, one problem that still remains is that the scanned images are slightly distorted where the spine of the book meets the page. It looks like Google has done their very best to fix this error, with a pretty nifty camera setup.

Their book scanner, which was recently revealed in patent pictures, paints a book with infrared light, and then two infrared cameras generate a 3D model of the book, which can be used to correct scans. On top of this, Google has implemented camera technology that detects the three-dimensional shape and angle of the book’s pages when the book is in the scanner. This is then transmitted to the OCR software, which adjusts for any distortions, and allows the OCR software to read the text more accurately.

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