Gadgetory

so 3d printing has really taken off and is proved to be useful for making everything from spoons to medical devices to even supercool Lynas action figures but there's another side to this three-dimensional coin so to speak that will make sense to anyone that's ever bought one of those clunky office printer copier things and I'm talking of course about 3d scanning which is exactly what it sounds like the process of scanning three-dimensional objects or models into a computer now you can probably guess that it's a little more complicated than your old flatbed scanner but the general principle of operation is actually fairly similar the scanner takes many samples of whatever it's looking at and stitches them together to spit out a coherent image or in this case a 3d model also somewhat similarly to regular 2d paper scanners many 3d scanners use light in some way such as with laser scanners which can acquire the shape of an object by firing you guessed it freakin laser beams at their targets but instead of burning and eating them some laser scanners capture shapes by calculating how long it takes for the laser beam to leave the scanner hit the object and reflect back to the scanner others use lasers in conjunction with a camera to figure out the laser marks exact location which the scanner uses to construct an image but not all light based scanners use laser beams for example you might have one that 3d scanner on top of your TV right now I'm talking about the Kinect for Xbox which shines infrared light invisible to the eye on your body while you're playing just dance or whatever then it uses a small infrared camera to determine your body's position and whether the club just can't even handle your moves right now there's also something called structured light scanning which can use plain white or blue light not lasers by the way fired at the object in thin lines to figure out the shape based on the distortion of the lines from other viewing angles however light based 3d scanning has its limits remember optical mice well we still have them but you know optical mice they have a hard time tracking on glass or shiny surfaces and 3d scanners that use light can have issues scanning objects that are transparent or made of highly reflective material in these situations it's often better to use a contact scanner these scanners actually touch whatever it whatever it is that you're trying to scan in order to figure out what it can get get off to figure out what it looks like using different kinds of probes attached to either hinges or joints that can send a position back to the computer to generate a super precise image of an object surface but how is all this technology put to use well when combined with a 3d printer you're basically one step away from your own Star Trek replicator complete with databanks full of all your favorite 3d foods but thanks to the imaginations of people there's a lot of uses Gene Roddenberry didn't think of video game developers are using 3d scanning to capture accurate models to be used in their games instead of designing them from scratch doctors and dentists use them to fit orthodontics and historians are using 3d scanning to preserve and document old artifacts statues and even buildings also a huge amount of mechanical parts used in industry are 3d scanned to verify the quality and structural integrity so there's actually a decent chance that your car was scanned at the factory to make sure the engine won't explode and on the subject of explosion doesn't shopping for clothes to make your head wanna explode personally I hate it try this on no no try this one that looks good that doesn't I don't know I just isn't there an easy way to just do this online so I don't have to deal with the hassle of crowds and balls yes there is Jack threads they've got a curated selection of brands both known and diamond-in-the-rough II unknown ones for the stuff I have here is known brands I think next level Oakley and Under Armour and they've got plenty of summer styles available like short-sleeved shirts in prints summer sneakers and board shorts it's a great value so you can get the most bang for your buck on the things that you love and need not to say that I guess you really need clothes I mean you guys can't even prove that I'm wearing pants for example in these videos we always shoot me from here down in fact today I'm not wearing pants because I'm wearing shorts which strictly speaking are short pants but the point is you can get an additional 20% off by visiting jack threads.com slash tech quickie which is linked in the video description and entering coupon code tech quickie at checkout don't buy what everyone else has skipped them all and shop Jack threads you can even shop on their iOS and Android apps if you want to shop where you want when you want so I guess that's pretty much it guys like the video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it sucked leave a comment if you have suggestions for future fast as possible and if you're looking for something else to watch right now check out the Linus tech tips channel where we recently did a painting tutorial for your computer monitor is bueno good go watch thanks for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe