Say what?
Whoaaaa. This new app lets you 3D scan anything—well, anything you can reasonably fit in your living space and that can stay still long enough to be scanned. With Qlone, you can scan any object in real-time directly on your phone.
Easy peasy
All you have to do is print out an AR mat—available in-app or on their site—and get to scanning.
The mat generates an augmented reality dome that guides you through the scanning process, which is essentially just walking around an object to capture a 360 view.
Once you scan the object from a different, second angle, the app auto-merges to generate your result.
Integrated editing tools allow you to clean up and modify the 3D model in-app. You can resize, sculpt, and even select colors from the scanned object to paint directly onto the model. Smooth lines, erase any areas you don’t want included, or even turn your object into scaled, ready to be printed cubes.
Scans are stored in a gallery, and there’s no limit to how many scans you’re able to store.
Share via social media, or export to a variety of formats, including OBJ, STL, PLY, and X3D for use in other projects.
Yeaaahhh you gotta pay for something
The app is free, but you will need to pay to export scans. This comes in the form of “credit packs,” which are purchasable through the app, and accessible across all devices on which you downloaded Qlone.
Right now, credit pack are $2.99 for one export, $12.99 for five, $19.99 for 10, and $39.99 for a 25-credit pack.
Constructive criticism
Qlone just came out June 15, so it’s still quite new to the market.
So far though, based on App Store reviews, the only thing users seem to have a problem with is paying for exports and shaky hands.
The Qlone team looks pretty hands-on, and they’ve responded to just about every review, either thanking reviewers or offering tech support.
Bonus favorite review: “It didn’t work for me. It is a good concept and I’ll probably try again. By the way I’m 12 so I probably was shaking the camera a lot or something like that.”
Currently, the Qlone is only available on iOS, but developers say they’re planning for an Android release sometime in the future.
I imagine some copyright issues might arise if people start printing and selling branded things, but I’m also imagining the magic of 3D scanning a waffle just to look at it all day on my phone after I’ve eaten it. I’m sure there are more practical uses. Download it to find out for yourself.
#3dprintallthethings
