On the Inside

A Portable Laser Backpack For 3D Mapping
wooferhound writes "A portable laser backpack for 3D mapping has been developed at the University of California, Berkeley, where it is being hailed as a breakthrough technology capable of producing fast, automatic and realistic 3D mapping of difficult interior environments. ... The backpack is the first of a series of similar systems to work without being strapped to a robot or attached to a cart. At the same time, its data acquisition speed is very fast, as it collects the data while the human operator is walking; this is in contrast with existing systems in which the data is painstakingly collected in a stop-and-go fashion, resulting in days and weeks of data acquisition time. It utilizes novel sensor fusion algorithms that use cameras, lasers range finders and inertial measurement units to generate a textured, photo-realistic, 3D model that can operate without GPS input and that is a big challenge."

How long before we have the mobile phone sized device like the first Ironman movie? Remember radar detectors in cars? Those things started out the size of a kitchen table. Heck, Cell Phones were the size of a suit case and only made phone calls.

I would love to have one of these things. I have no business need for it. I'm just nuts for interior maps of buildings for some reason. I used to say it was to think up DnD scenarios when I was a teen, but now I know it is just for the sake of staring at the maps and imagine walking around in the interior spaces. Maybe I'm an architect in another universe.