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Matterform
Photon 3D Scanner
2 of 2
Photon 3D Scanner
The race to bring digital scanning to the home is well and truly on; MakerBot announced their Digitizer at SXSWI last month, Moedls launched their scanning with your smartphone on Kickstarter, CADScan achieved full funding on Kickstarter last month, and Microsoft have opened up the Kinect for cheap 3D scanning. The latest to join the sprint is the rather nifty looking Photon 3D Scanner, fully funded on Indiegogo with 27 days still remaining.
The collapsible Photon 3D Scanner by Adam Brandejs and Drew Cox of Matterform, works in pretty much the same way as all those listed above; shooting lasers and a webcam at an object on a rotating platform to generate a point cloud for you to then 3D print. The Canadian company launched the scanner on Indiegogo on March 27th at a preorder price of C$399 ($393, £260, €306) and they’ve been selling like hot cakes, hot cakes on a rotating plate.
What makes the Photon 3D Scanner really stand out from the crowd is not just the sleek looking design and ease of use but Brandejs and Cox themselves. The Toronto based pair have quite the track record, encompassing experience with conglomerates like Coca Cola, Budweiser, Audi and Honda at the same time as getting their hands dirty in the hackersphere:
"We originally set out to make a 3D scanner, just for ourselves. After we started showing it off to people and getting a really great response, we thought we would try putting it out in the world."
"The Photon was originally made to compliment our 3D printers, but as we got further along, so many other amazing uses kept popping up."
The success of the Photon 3D Scanner proves there is demand for these 3D scanners but which scanner will be the over the threshold of domesticity? On your marks…