RealityScan, an app developed by Epic Games which lets you create 3D models based on real life objects via your smartphone, is now available to all users on the iOS platform. Prior to this, it was only distributed to a limited number of testers back in April this year under a closed beta. Though in a similar vein to NVIDIA’s NeRF technology, Epic’s app is instead developed as a simplified, easy-to-use 3D object creation tool for mobile device users.
RealityScan works by requiring you to take a set of at least 20 photos of a real-world object from all sides. Doing so will create a real-time quality map, which is colour coded to indicate whether your captures are effective or not. Specifically, green denotes well-covered areas, orange means a retake is required, while ones that are in red are unusable. Thankfully, Epic has a tutorial video (embedded below) to detail on how you can effectively use the app to create 3D objects.
Upon a successful scan, the app will synchronise the gathered data to Epic’s cloud-based system, which would then generate a 3D rendition of the captured object on your smartphone. The 3D model will be viewable in RealityScan’s preview mode, which will also provide you with the ability to tidy the object up even further by removing any unwanted elements via the built-in crop tool.
Once finalised, you can export it to the company’s 3D asset platform Sketchfab, where you may choose to have your creation to be distributed at a price, or completely free of charge. Epic says 3D assets hosted on the platform can be used in Unreal Engine, Twinmotion, MetaHuman, or any other post-processing tool. Additionally, it adds that RealityScan users will automatically be upgraded to a Sketchfab Pro account for a year after their first upload to the platform.
The RealityScan app is available to download for free, though it is only available for iOS devices for now. The company says an Android version is currently in development and is aimed to be released by early 2023. Keep in mind that you’ll need an Epic Games account and an active internet connection in order to use the app. Privacy conscious users should also take note that data (such as the images used for scans as well as their metadata) will be shared with the company by default. In that regard, you may choose to disable the storing of machine learning data entirely through the app’s Settings page.
(Source: Epic Games [official blog])
