Landing : Athabascau University

Lynx: point and shoot camera for 3D-printing-ready images

http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/02/lynx-a/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

This is a great idea - a means to create 3D models by both scanning around (e.g. for sculpture) and scanning from the inside (eg. for buildings), including motion capture (interesting!) with the software to make the process pretty painless. With skill and patience you can do these things already with any cheap digital camera and some open source free software, but no one has yet built something like this that makes the process seamless and easy. Looks like the tablet-sized screen is used for rendering and rotating captured objects. Cool.

It's a Kickstarter project (ie not quite there yet unless it gets the money) with a moderately expensive entry point (nearly $2000), but the device and its integration of software look like it might be worth it. One day soon things like this will cost $100 and 3D printers will be ubiquitous, but this looks like it could become the main game in town for now. For around $4000 including a decent 3D printer and a bit of skill and attention to detail you could basically scan and print almost any object.