If 3D scanning is a method to digitize physical objects and 3D printing is a way to make digital items real, augmented reality is one way for virtual and digital objects to interact and complement each other. While 3D printing and 3D scanning have been around for almost three decades, VR began to take hold with the diffusion, in the early 2000’s, of smart and connected devices, and – in spite of some drawbacks relating to wearable AR devices – it is becoming an integral part of ubiquitous computing, gradually superimposing virtual 3D images onto real objects.
The REAL Conference taking place in San Francisco explores how all aspects of 3D imaging, visualization and making interact with each other and AR is an integral part of the process. Taking its extensive experience in this field to the conference is Metaio, a worldwide leader in Augmented Reality software, research, and technology. With over 10 years of experience in Augmented Reality and Computer Vision, Metaio now serves over 130,000 developers with over 1,000 published apps.
Metaio’s Creator software and SDK, along with its AR Apps publishing solutions, offer a complete package for experienced programmers and even non-programmers to create their own App. Among its long list of satisfied customers are more than 1,000 brands and companies in the areas of television, education, entertainment, and gaming, such as Macy’s, Volkswagen, Audi, McDonald’s, Red Bull, and Lego.
The company got its start in 2003 by offering AR to the industrial and automotive sectors for product design and factory planning. Today, Metaio’s versatile mobile development platform focuses on the areas of sales, to transform the shop into an interactive environment, with virtual indications and try-ons. It is easy to imagine how, in the shop of future, the virtual AR objects will be transformed into real ones through 3D printing. That shop from the future may take a long time to materialize, but it has already begun.
