I would like an app that lets me map the dimensions and floor plans of an indoor space. Without really knowing a ton about lidar or the specific implementation of it in this device, I imagine that could be done?

The apps that use the camera are all pretty clunky. If I could just walk around the inside of my house for a while and let it map it out, that would be nifty.

(put on tin foil hat) Then the iPad can track my movement around my house and play ads based on which room I am in.

Example - walks into bathroom and I hear "Try new lemon toilet bowl cleaner."

The press release mentions this:

"Later this year, Shapr 3D, a professional CAD system based on Siemens Parasolid technology, will use the LiDAR Scanner to automatically generate an accurate 2D floor plan and 3D model of a room which can then be used as the basis to design remodels or room additions like a bathroom or closet. New designs can then be previewed in real-world scale using AR right in the room you scanned."

> Example - walks into bathroom and I hear "Try new lemon toilet bowl cleaner."

No, no, no :(

Why on Earth would you want that?

I was looking for this right now, actually.

I want to remodel my house. I want to take my device, scan everything, then put replace parts - new vanity in bathroom, try different paints in different rooms, new lighting etc.

After each change, I want to put on my VR device and walk around. Finally, I want to send the changes I choose to a contractor.

sorry for the non-context response, but in hopes you see the reply (and missed the one from the other day), blockbattle.net is currently down. would be great if it could be back up, not sure of any other way to contact the creators, will not nag about this again here. if you want someone to take over hosting, would be totally up for it :-) great game, Thanks.

I messaged my buddy to restart the server, but in not really involved anymore.

Thank You :-) Would be great if anyone still involved could drop by /r/blockbattlenet ... would be happy to help with hosting (or if open sourcing at this point is an option, even better). Thanks again!

Why would someone want to map out an indoor space as a 3D model with color and precision? I would never have thought the usefulness of that would be in question. Any kind of building or construction, virtual spaces, robotics navigation, virtual tours etc. can and already are making use of these things.

There are already apps that do that. They are useful for home appraisers, interior designers, architects. Anyone who wants to quickly map out a building. They just use the camera though so improving the accuracy with Lidar would be valuable to those professionals who already use those apps.

As someone currently in the progress of remodeling my home, including buying furniture for three children's rooms, this sounds awesome.

e.g. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ikea-place/id1279244498

Well take away the ads, a more useful thing would be planning furniture

Are you involved in sales?

I am thinking masonry/fireplace door installation. Each fireplace needs measured accurately before one can order a Fireplace door. Often times, customers opt to measure themselves. In a previous life, the company I worked for ran into so many issues and so many "rejected" doors that were used for floor/clearance models. Even if the customer did not do the measurement, installers would get it wrong. The measurements necessary for a Fireplace door include up to 12+ distinct measurement. The type of door (zero clearance, etc..) as well as door accessories are heavily dependent on the measurements. Imagine placing an order, waiting 4-8 weeks for it to be built and all to discover that it doesn't fit. Anyone interested in tackling this problem, get a hold of me.

I doubt they shoved a real continuous wave lidar there. Most likely some tof sensor with difraction grating

Sounds interesting! I thought about indoor coach training tracker, but it’s apparently available with front faceid camera as well.

3D scan any physical object and then send it to a 3D printer. So many possibilities!

- Cosplayer? 3D scan yourself, you now have a model you can make minis out of.

- Need to replace a simple valve to help treat covid19? This does most of the work for you.

- Game dev? You can scan a real world item, either importing it directly or using it as an outline for an in-game object.

For most high detail or functional things you probably will need to make some adjustments to the scanned model, but it could make the whole process waaay easier.

None of that happens! Kinect is about to turn ten, and only two things that came of various consumer RGBD cameras were Face ID and VTubers.

They're good for tracking and measurement but the data out of them has near zero aesthetic quality especially for its complexity.

It really depends on a lot more than lidar. Kinect and Tango were lidar as well but getting a point cloud and computing perfect geometry are not the same thing!

Taking measurements for clothes. If a store had one, they could show you which items fit, or order custom made clothes.

check out display.land

Basically same as the current AR, but with actual measurements. So the scale is actually correct, distance measures are correct, and so on. Can create a 3D model up to the range of the LIDAR etc etc.

- How about self-body scanning for dating apps? You can add it on your profile as a "LiDAR 3d-model" bonus so interested parties know they're not getting catfished. Yeah, you can always scan your hot friend, but it just requires another level of deception.

- How about a "night-vision" app? Without needing a flashlight, you can stumble around a dark room (maybe outdoors at night?) without running into walls.

> Without needing a flashlight, you can stumble around a dark room (maybe outdoors at night?) without running into walls.

The iPad screen would act like a flashlight, just you'd be pointing it at your face instead of at the world.

Oh god, lidar dick pics... please no.

At least you can rest assured that Elon Musk will never send one of these…

Just pray it can't interface with a 3D printer.

They have some good examples in the article. For example, the IKEA app that will be able to instantly measure your room and suggest furnishings.

Doesn't the IKEA app already do that?

It is only new to the iPad - you can look at intel's realsense and microsoft's kinect to check out depth cameras in use for many years already. The integration is what will make it special. We will have to see what the noise is like coming off the camera though. I would guess there will be some SLAM demos of mapping spaces or digitizing objects.

I doubt they did it for anything like that. I bet they just want to get more 3D content for their upcoming VR goggles.

A lot of these comments are expecting magical perfectly scanned geo but really its just another slightly less fuzzy point cloud you need to sort through. Kinect and Tango did it. Maybe Apple cracked it and it is magical. We'll have to see.

I wonder if you could combine the camera data with the lidar to make detailed real estate virtual walk-throughs.

Also, just as the Kinect allowed for some makeshift motion capture / animation, maybe the lidar could allow for some makeshift 3D modeling.

A 3D model of your home in a cartoon/"the sims" style that shows where your smart home devices are. The model could also be used to play various automation scenarios (e.g. morning routine, or someone walks past the front door). It's easy to keep track of a few devices, but if you have many similar devices, you likely think about them by location, not by name or other identifier.

I'm thinking about the security implications more than what I could build to be honest.

What security implications are there for a LIDAR sensor that aren't there for a camera?

I'm going to develop an alarm app that flashes the iPad screen red and blares an alarm when the user, walking with their head down, ignores the crosswalk signs and steps into the path of a car that has the right of way. At least the user will know that their death was their own fault ... something that wasn't possible until now.