Artec 3D Doubles Resolution for Handheld Scanners

Artec 3D, a developer and manufacturer of professional 3D hardware and software, has announced the successful development of a proprietary AI Engine that more than doubles the resolution of its Eva and Leo handheld scanners to 0.2 mm in a newly released HD Mode. Artec 3D is the first and only company to utilize deep convolutional neural networks to reconstruct 3D surfaces and improve the quality of 3D models. With HD Mode, users can create exceptionally accurate, low-noise scans of smaller, more detailed objects with complex surfaces, as well as large, intricate objects. HD Mode is free and available now for all Eva and Leo users via Artec 3D’s latest scanning and data processing software, Artec Studio 15.

“With the help of in-house developed training techniques and CNNs, we’ve managed to squeeze more information from the same amount of data captured from our existing 3D Eva and Leo scanners and get a much richer and denser representation of the scene being scanned,” said Gleb Gusev, CTO of Artec 3D. “Now we’re able to receive up to 64 times more measurements from the same scanners, which more than doubles the resolution of the final model and significantly decreases noise. Another advantage of our new approach is the much more accurate reconstruction of the surfaces this technique provides compared to standard algorithms.”

“We are committed to creating life-long Artec 3D users, not only by developing the industry’s most cutting-edge new 3D technologies, but also ensuring that the performance of our existing solutions is continuously being enhanced,” said Artyom Yukhin, President and CEO of Artec 3D. “The release of HD mode, powered by a first-of-its-kind neural network, is an extraordinary milestone for the 3D scanning industry that our users can benefit from right away. It’s incredibly rare for any company to release such a significant upgrade at no cost, but we want users to rest assured that when they invest in our technology it will continue to pay off for years to come.”

Artec 3D has a deep history in computer vision and AI, creating AI algorithms for its own 3D facial recognition devices, as well as for technology industry leaders. Most notably, Artec 3D’s team of AI experts worked with Apple to help develop its Face ID. Now, Artec 3D has leveraged its expertise to apply AI not only to 3D faces, but to 3D objects of any kind. The convolutional neural network powering Artec 3D’s AI Engine in Studio 15 software has been trained using millions of data points and hundreds of thousands of 3D models to ensure optimum performance in HD Mode.

When an Eva or Leo operator turns on HD Reconstruction, they can look forward to scans with unparalleled degrees of resolution, coverage, and detail. They can also select the desired density for HD scans, from a standard 1X all the way up to an astonishing 36X for Eva and 64X for Leo. To experience the benefits of HD Mode, users must utilize computers with NVIDIA GPUs and 2 GB (Eva) / 4 GB (Leo) of video RAM for proper scanning and data processing. NVIDIA is the Artec 3D recommended graphics card brand for Artec Studio users.

HD Mode allows users to scan more detailed objects in over twice the resolution, with Eva and Leo scanners. This mode easily captures sharp and thin edges in higher definition. Even complex structures with various hard-to-scan surfaces, such as those featuring holes and gaps, varying depths and angles, and recessed areas are now systematically reconstructed in every single frame to deliver the best possible scan. With HD Mode, tricky surfaces, such as those that are deep black, shiny, or covered in hair or fur, are also easier to digitize with incredible detail. HD mode has an elite level of noise reduction in both raw data and final model, making scanned objects ready for reverse engineering, as well as many other applications, without needing any editing.