ProFORMA 3D Scanner builds 3D Textured Models

ProFORMA is a 3D scanning system that uses a regular webcam to capture an object and automatically build a 3D textured model from the real object. All the user needs to do is hold an object in front of the camera and rotate it around while the computer calculates all the information needed to represent it in 3D. ProFORMA, meaning “Probabilistic Feature-based On-line Rapid Model Acquisition” was designed by Qi Pan at the Cambridge University and both Linux and Windows versions of the test software are being made available soon.

The system appears to work well from what I can see in the video. Although they are not high resolution meshes showing all the fine details, they still capture enough information to represent a 3D model that looks good. Check out more images and a video below showing the system in action. The video also shows an augmented image where the user can rotate the physical model and the 3D model be rendered in real time.