One thing that members of social networks love is pictures of food – especially on visual platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. With an eye on this appetizing market, Swiss company Dacuda is launching 3DAround. It's a mobile app for iPhone that allows users to take 3D photographs, which will make online food-gazers salivate even more.
Dacuda based the app on its SLAM Scan 3D technology, which turns the iPhone into a 3D scanner. 3DAround extracts depth information from the objects it photographs as users move the camera around to capture food images from several angles. The app then merges those pictures into one 3D image. The result is a holographic representation with more realism and details than a regular photo.
The app’s viewer uses the iPhone's built-in gyroscope sensor to determine how the user moves the phone. Based on the movement, the perspective of the view is adjusted. As the user tilts the phone, it moves the view into the plate up and down.
Similarly, shifting the phone to the left or right will rotate the 3D photograph slightly to the left or right, giving the feeling that the plate of food rotates slightly. In addition to that, the user can navigate 360 degrees around the food by swiping left and right with their thumb.
There have been similar 3D photo efforts such as Stilla, which gives users the possibility of rendering existing images into multi-dimensional presentations, and BumpyPhoto, which adds relief to a 2D photo. 3DAround seems to take the concept to a higher level, though.
The app is is currently available in private beta and slated for a November release. Dacuda has produced a video to show 3DAround at work.
Source: Dacuda
