This app will soon let your smartphone scan objects and turn them into 3D models. This is how

Epic Games announced a free app called RealityScan, which can help turn smartphone photos into high-fidelity 3D models. The app was available in limited beta through iOS’s TestFlight, but the slots are already full so you’d have to wait for the official release expected later this year.

What is RealityScan?

RealityScan was developed using technologies from Capturing Reality—a company specialising in photogrammetry that was acquired by Epic Games in 2021. According to Epic, Capturing Reality’s software is able to “reconstruct objects and scenes of any size from images or laser scans, yielding 3D scans with unparalleled accuracy and mesh quality at speeds many times faster than competing software”. 

With RealityScan, it is able to create digital 3D objects using just your phone. It will walk you through the scanning experience with real-time feedback and AR guidance, “creating a realistic model almost instantly”.

The app, however, would need at least 20 shots of the object at different angles, and having good lighting and a clean background will certainly improve the result.  From there, the 3D object can be uploaded to Sketchfab—a platform for publishing, sharing, and selling 3D, VR, and AR content.

Capturing Reality posted a 3D model of an armchair on SketchFab, the same one in their introduction video about RealityScan. You’re able to look at the armchair from every angle you want, and zoom in and out however close or far you want, too. When you zoom in close enough, you’re able to see the finer details like the discolouration and wrinkles.

“As more creators and hobbyists embrace 3D photogrammetry, we want to make our technology even more accessible, so anyone can bring ultra-detailed, digital models of real-world objects into their virtual projects,” wrote Capturing Reality.

RealityScan seems exciting to try and use, but according to The Verge, the app still has some kinks it needs to sort out. After trying it out on a couple of objects, they found that the 3D scans looked hilariously withered.

“Perhaps my iPhone 12 mini’s cameras aren’t good enough. Maybe I wasn’t in a well-lit room. I may not have taken enough scans or didn’t get the correct angles,” wrote Jay Peters for The Verge.

Despite that, the app seems like a useful tool to help users create 3D models using just their smartphone. The official release on iOS is expected to roll out later this year. An Android version of the app is also in the works.

There are phones that have “3D scanning capabilities” like the Sony Xperia XZ1 and the Galaxy Note 10+. However, the results were disappointing.

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