Canadian inventors launch sub-$600 3D scanner

Mike McLeod April 29, 2013

CAD/CAM/CAE

Matterform's Photon 3D scanner raises $330K in crowdfunding in less than a month.

A couple of Toronto-based inventors, Drew Cox and Adam Brandejs, and their company, Matterform, have become the darlings of the crowd funding site, Indiegogo, with a small desktop-sized 3D scanner called the Photon that costs less than $600.

“The Photon 3D scanner allows anyone to take a physical object and turn it into a digital 3D model on your computer,” says Cox, co-founder of the pair’s invention company, Matterform. “It works by shooting dual laser lines at an object as it rotates 360 degrees, taking pictures with an HD camera along the way. At a current price of $599, this is the first 3D scanner that is affordable for the home consumer market.”

The small desktop scanner can scan objects up to 190mm x 190mm x 250mm (7.5″ diamter x 9.75″ height) in about three minutes. The Photon has a resolution of 0.43mm at 0.5 degree scans, with an accuracy of +/- .2mm on a 4-inch figurine. With scanning software compatible with all major platforms, the Photon saves files to .STL, .OBJ and point cloud .PLY formats.

Launched via a 35-day crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, Matterform surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $81,000 in a week. To date, the project has raised more than $330K and has been featured as one of Indiegogo’s top projects. The company has yet to say when the scanner will be available for sale through its web site or how much the final retail price will be. For now, there are only a few hours left on the Photon 3D scanner Indiegogo campaign.