How does LiDAR work, what are the uses/benefits, especially in the context of phone cameras/AR?
In: Technology
LiDAR just sends a laser out and measures time for it to return (it bounces off something, the time it takes to travel there and back is used to calculate distance). The benefit of it is that it’s very accurate and precise It’s used a lot in archaeology and agriculture because it’s so precise a plane flying over land can map at a resolution of 1 foot (every 12 inches registers a point) even at altitude and high speeds. It’s what autonomous vehicles use to scan their surroundings. In a mobile phone the interest is 3d scanning, you can google an example of LiDAR used to scan a penny and see how accurate is. There are examples now of a game that creates lava on your floor to avoid, a room scanned into 3d software like CAD to see how additions would look and measure dimensions, and IKEA is developing an app to show you what their furniture would look like in your room. There are AR games like Pokemon Go but it’s not accurate at all, right now it’s just looking for flat lines in a 2d picture while this would add actually 3d capability.
If you have access to Disney+, there is a show in the NatGeo section. It’s called “Lost Treasures of the Maya”. They use and explain LiDAR in the first episode, I believe.
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