3D Model Captured With Google Glass

By on June 28th, 2013 in Hardware, Ideas

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Google Glass is a set of glasses that include processing, networking and sensory elements. It’s an experimental platform upon which developers many now invent new kinds of applications. One such experiment is Todd Blatt’s 3D scanning project. 
 
The glasses themselves do not have the processing capability to generate a 3D model, nor do the glasses have distance or 3D sensing apparatus. Instead, Blatt’s technique was radically simple: use Glass’s cameras to capture a series of images of an object and then upload them to 123D Catch, a free service that converts a set of 360-degree views into a real 3D model. 
 
Here’s how it went down: 
 
I just walked around the work, repeating, “ok glass, take a picture” over and over, 30 shots in total. No real care in aiming the shot.  I just looked at it and that’s it. Then I manually uploaded the photos from Google Autobackup to 123D Catch on my computer and proceeded as normal with the regular scanning/123d process.
 
This is really no different than taking images with your regular camera – except for one thing: you don’t have a camera. You’re inconspicuously simply walking around an object, albeit talking quietly to your Glasses. The point is that 3D scans can now be captured much more stealthily than ever before. 
 
And printed. 
 
Image Credit: Wikimedia

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!