3D-Scanner: Handheld 3D scanning on the go

US 3D scanner and printer company Z Corporation has introduced a new portable 3D scanner the Z Scanner 700.

The system connects to computers via FireWire and creates scans of the object surface in almost real-time. The company claims that the scanner can capture virtually any object from any angle, anywhere.

As this scanner can be moved around any object even hard to reach objects can be scanned easily. The results produced do not require combining / stitching together multiple scans - with the included software the scanner produces files that are directly ready for output to a 3D printer.

We expect 3D printing soon to become mainstream (on lower quality levels also for consumers) and in the near future to become as common as currently 2D printing already is.