A researcher from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA, USA) has developed a software app that can transform the iPhone into a 3-D scanner.
The so-called "Trimensional" app uses the screen of the iPhone to illuminate an object, such as a user's face, from four different directions while its front-facing camera captures the patterns of reflected light. From that data, the app can then reconstruct a true 3-D model.
Advanced users can then create physical copies of any scanned object on a 3-D printer or import textured 3-D scans into popular 3-D graphics software using a 3-D model export feature.
For best results, engineer Grant Schindler says that an extremely dark room is required and the brightness of the iPhone screen must be set to maximum.
More information and a video demonstrating the features of the software and the 3-D printing capability can be found here.
