Comparison of mobile applications for 3D reconstruction

In the summer, Samsung released a new tablet - Galaxy Tab S2. There, among other things, an original application for creating 3D models using a tablet camera appeared. The release of this feature went completely unnoticed, although for subtle connoisseurs (like me) this, of course, is a very interesting technology.

Preview reconstruction using 3D Capture.
View 3D result.

I decided to take a closer look and compare current 3D reconstruction applications for smartphones.

Applications

1. 3D Capture from Samsung. While available only and exclusively for the Galaxy Tab S2. The Samsung application store does not allow links to applications, so here is a link to the video from the developers . As a bonus, compared to other applications, there is a very interesting three-dimensional editor (which, for good, Samsung could be sold separately for a lot of money).
2. SCANN 3D .
3. TRNIO . Currently available only for iOS.
4. 123D Catch from Autodesk. There are versions for all platforms.

Scenario and Results

To build a model, you just need to run the application, point the camera at the object and go around the model in a circle. The comparison results are compiled in a table, and the resulting models I posted on sketchfab . For comparison, I also added the reconstruction results obtained on the Photoscan desktop application.

application	3D capture	SCANN 3D	Trnio	123D catch
Reconstruction time	50 s	20-30 min	6 h	1-2 hours
Cloud Processing	not	not	Yes	Yes
Ease of shooting	fully automatic	manual frame selection	fully automatic	manual selection with the need to aim
Sharing options	e-mail	e-mail, own social. network, sketchfab	e-mail, own social. network, sketchfab	own social network

The following parameters were compared:

1. The quality of the reconstruction. Here the best results were shown by 123D Catch, then 3D Capture. Why such a low quality turned out at the photo scan is not clear. In my experience, it is usually much higher.
2. Speed ​​of reconstruction. There's 3D Capture ahead. It is worth noting that the difference between 1 minute and 20 minutes is much greater than between 20 minutes and two hours. If the reconstruction lasts only a minute, then the poorly obtained model can be easily re-shot and achieved high quality. If the reconstruction lasts 20 minutes, then such an opportunity, most likely, will no longer be. So, for example, I conducted tests of all applications in the same conditions under the same lighting. But the 123D Catch after two hours of operation told me that nothing came of it and that it would be necessary to retake. And the opportunity to reshoot appeared only after a few days and already with different lighting - which is a little dishonest.
3. Easy to shoot. The most convenient is a fully automatic mode, when the user just needs to press the start (3D Capture and TRNIO). SCANN 3D is a little more complicated, where you need to shoot each frame separately. In the case of 123D Catch, the user must also aim precisely enough, which significantly complicates the shooting.
4. The use of the cloud. Everything is clear here - if you use a cloud, then you need the Internet. And since many photos are taken while traveling, using the Internet can be critical.
5. Sharing methods. Until now, there is no universally accepted way to exchange three-dimensional models, so applications use different approaches:
   
   • Sending the model by mail. A wonderful way, but hardly the receiving side will be able to open such a file without assistance. It’s not that difficult, but not everyone knows how to do it (or it’s possible, for example ).
   • Internal social network. The created models are available for viewing in the application itself, and your friends can see your models by entering the application from their phone.
   • And finally, you can put the model on sketchfab . A very convenient service - models can be twisted and zoomed in any way, it works from the browser, including on android and ayos, everything is simple and free.
   
   

Preview reconstruction using SCANN 3D
See the result in the 3D


preview reconstruction using TRNIO
See the result in the 3D


preview reconstruction using 123D Catch
See the result in the 3D


preview reconstruction using Photoscan
See Results 3D

conclusions

It can be stated that 3D reconstruction, which at first was the lot of science fiction writers, and then scientists, turned into a widely available technology. What she lacks now is the infrastructure - such as browsers, widely accepted transfer and storage standards, etc. But I think that in five years from now it will be as ordinary and simple to take three-dimensional images as it is simple now.