Scanning photos is so easy that it's done on pretty much every office desktop. Hell, even picture frames can do it. But scanning objects? That's still something most people think of as science fiction (tricorders, anyone?). But it's about to enter the everyday world, now that RealView's 3D scanners are here.

Looking a bit like a sci-fi toy, the RealView 360 scanner has a platform for your object that rotates while a turret-like device with dual cameras scans in all the object's surface data. The result: a single 3D image that you can import into any application. It's a way-cool trick, and RealView makes models that scan in VGA, HD and larger-format resolutions.

Why would you want this instead of a regular scanner? If you sell stuff on eBay, one 3D scan could replace a whole mess of photos of your Harry Potter wand replica. No prices yet, though if RealView's stuff is significantly cheaper than the NextEngine 3D, we just might be buying.

RealView 3D, via Technovelgy