Other VR technology
The following is a very brief overview of some of our VR and online 3d related experience and research.
If you would like to know our most effective and reliable solutions for online 3d and VR creation please click here.
3D Java Applets
We have previously built several online interactive 3D Java Applets ranging from clothing shops, to fully working portable DVD player to adding cosmetics to a photo-real animated human. However, we no longer consider this technology robust enough to offer clients. This is due to security issues, the need to download and install Java plugins and the advent of HTML5. Read our news post about the power of WebGL and HTML5
Matterport
Over the last 10 years Matterport has had £50 million investment which has made it an industry leader in 3D property scanning and viewing. It combines IR laser scanning (to form a 3D point cloud) with photographs to produce a textured 3D model. The beauty of this is that the model is very well optimised, via their Cloud Computing service, which makes it fast enough to work in the majority of browsers/devices.
We would warn customers of companies who have recently bought a Matterport scanner but have no 3d experience. This is like a someone with no experience buying power tools calling themselves a builder.
At Offplan3d we have been building online 3d models since 2005 and we fully understand our area of expertise.
Google Tango
Over the last 10 years Matterport has had £50 million investment which has made it an industry leader in 3D property scanning and viewing. It combines IR laser scanning (to form a 3D point cloud) with photographs to produce a textured 3D model. The beauty of this is that the model is very well optimised, via their Cloud Computing service, which makes it fast enough to work in the majority of browsers/devices.
Laser scanning has been the traditional and most accurate way of digitizing real world objects. Point cloud data is collected and then convert into 3D models. However the growth in Cloud Computing Services has lead to photogrammetry becoming another 3d scanning option. This means a 3D model can be created by photographs alone (and immense computing power).
Currently processing photos into a 3D model is beyond most mobile devices. However the new range of phones with 3D cameras and Google Tango apps will be the technology to watch.
For examples of how we can capture real world objects and create 3d models please click the above heading.
Microsoft Kinect
Here is an example of a basic realtime point cloud capture, scanned from a Microsoft Kinect. This is also old technology but it shows how fast real world 3d data can be captured.
Move around the 3d space with your mouse button.
Google Street View
It is worth mentioning Google Street View as this really is the grandad of a lot of online 3D scanning/viewing.Now the power of Street View is open to anyone who has a 360 degree camera and a phone with GPS to create their own walkthroughs. Google also gave us the Photosphere, one of the simplest but most reliable ways of photographing and viewing environments.
Photosynth
Microsoft brought out a similar photo-stitching software, called Photosynth, around the same time. Although very innovative software, which developed way beyond Google Street View, it never really gained enough user traction. So photosynth went the same way as Betamax video cassettes. Here is a Ted Talk on the subject
Offplan3d is an award winning company with a reputation for consistent innovation at the highest level of design and innovation.
If you would like to find out how we can help you with your projects please call us for a chat on 01237 45 23 23