3DAround: iPhone App Transforms Camera into 360 Degree 3D Imaging Device

A Swiss software firm has invented an app that can capture the depth and 360 degree structure of an object using an iPhone's camera and show it back as a 3D image.

Dacuda, which previously gained attention through its PocketScan portable scanner, developed 3DAround originally to seize upon the ever-increasing popularity of food photography, but envisions a broad userbase in the future that includes online retailers, bloggers, and social media users.

"We want to see more user-generated 3D content and so thought we'd bring this to foodies and food bloggers," Alexander Ilic, founder of Dacuda, told IBTimes UK.

"We thought we'd bring it to foodies and food bloggers and then ultimately to anyone who takes photos using their phone or uses photo-sharing apps like Instagram."

The 3DAround app will be available as a free download from November to iPhone 6 users and anyone else running the iOS 8 mobile operating system.

There is currently no Android version due to the varying devices and different versions of Android on the market, each with diferent camera APIs.

"We need control over certain elements of the camera, like its exposure and focus, and Apple has the most advanced camera API out there," Ilic said.

A demonstration video of the app shows an iPhone user circling a piece of cake with their handset's camera, before a 3D rendering of the slice is created by the app.

No external hardware is needed to create the image, only Dacuda's SLAM Scan 3D software that stitches together images to reconstruct the object into a single, virtual 3D photo.

"Today's smartphones are our main tool for capturing and sharing experiences digitally," said Benedikt Koppel, an app developer at Dacuda. "Until now, most user-generated digital content has been limited to flat, unappealing two-dimensional photography.

"Using Dacuda's SLAM Scan 3D technology, 3DAround allows users to easily capture 3D scenes, taking food photography to the next highly accessible level."