Constructing virtual 3D models usually requires heavy and expensive equipment, or takes lengthy amounts of time. A group of researchers Cambridge University Engineering Department; Qi Pan, Dr Gerhard Reitmayr and Dr Tom Drummond have created a program able to build 3D models of textured objects in real-time, using only a standard computer and webcam. This allows 3D modeling to become accessible to everybody.
Qi, Gerhard and Tom presented the system at the 20th British Machine Vision Conference (BMVC'09), in London.
During the last few years, many methods have been developed to build a realistic 3D model of a real object. Various equipment has been used: 2D/3D laser, (in visible spectrum or other wave lengths), scanner, projector, camera, etc. These pieces of equipment are usually expensive, complicated to use or inconvenient and the model is not built in real-time. The data (for example laser information or photos) must first be acquired, before going through the lengthy reconstruction process to form the model. If the 3D reconstruction is unsatisfactory, then the data must be acquired again.
Articles about the system have been published in the French on-line newspaper Futura-Sciences and in the French science magazine "Sciences et Avenir" (Science and Future).
The project also won "Best Demo Prize" at a conference called ISMAR 2009 (International Symposium of Mixed and Augmented Reality).
Source: Cambridge University News & Features
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