3D

Samsung seems to be at a stage where it's rapidly playing around with its camera systems, quickly changing the formula based on what works and what doesn't. One of the puzzle pieces that has changed since last year has been its use of a 3D Time-of-Flight sensor or ToF which was present until the Galaxy S20 last year. Since then, however, the tech has been missing and it seems that next year's Galaxy S22 will miss out on it again, hinting at the end of its use at least for the time being.

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A set of researchers published a paper this week identifying their work in exploring the once mysterious spider-like terrain on Mars. We've spoken of the surface of the red planet before - even after humanity landed rovers on Mars, mysteries remain. The Martian surface, as these researchers wrote, is "host to a variety of features which have no Earth analogs and are all active in some capacity today."

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Back in 1901, researchers discovered a device on a Roman shipwreck near Greece called the Antikythera Mechanism. Since then, the device has remained a mystery, and the 2000-year-old device is typically referred to as the world's oldest computer. Despite all the modern technology applied to studying the device, exactly how it works has remained a mystery.

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I have a question about 3D scanning devices: Why aren't they easier to access? Today a project by Thomas Megel made the rest of the handheld smart device universe look silly by comparison. With OpenScan project software, Raspberry Pi, and the Pi camera v2.1, Megel created a budget-friendly 3D-scanning system that's able to capture highly accurate 10-micron 3D scans with relative ease.

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The folks at Matterport revealed a relatively major update this week, specifically for iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro 2020. This update adds improved dimensional accuracy with LiDAR for those two devices. This means that the 3D sensor at the back of the device - that sensor you're usually not thinking about more than once in a blue moon - will be used to capture and create some of the most awesome media you've ever had the opportunity to share.

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iHeartMedia is paving the way for a new type of podcast format, one that involves 3D audio for a more lifelike experience. The company has announced iHeart 3D Audio alongside its plan to branch out into binaural podcasting, which will offer listeners a 3D experience, at least when they listen to the shows using headphones.

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Today Formlabs brought a 7-year project to the light, delivering the world's first benchtop industrial selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printer to the public. This device is called Formlabs Fuse 1, and it'll be launched alongside a post-processing system called Formlabs Fuse Sift, and the Fuse 1's first powder material: Formlabs Nylon 12 Powder. With this setup, Formlabs says they are delivering on their "promise to bring this powerful technology to market at an affordable price point without compromising quality.

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Today you can view a 10-billion-pixel scan of the Johannes Vermeer painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Over the course of one night, the folks at Hirox captured 91,000 photos of the painting. Hirox fed the photos into a computer where their custom software took care of all the stitching. The result was a single reconstruction of the painting at 93,205 x 108,565 pixels in all.

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This week the modder known as Mechachoi delivered a robotic masterpiece, connecting Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch to an exercise bike. He worked with a variety of off-the-shelf parts and made the whole experience just as wireless as the original, pushing the exercise bike to act as the controller without ripping the original controller apart whatsoever. This is the sort of modding Nintendo must love.

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It's no secret that Google has had very little luck with anything that comes close to being a social platform. It is perhaps less known that it also has had very little luck when it came to 3D content. While SketchUp briefly became a buzzword in the 3D modeling space, Google eventually relinquished its hold on the product just after six years of acquiring it. Now another one of its 3D-related products will be joining its notorious graveyard, once again raising concerns about its commitment to VR and AR technologies.

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A set of images revealed this week show the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with a previously unknown sensor. This new sensor sits among four cameras - and may be part of a 5-camera array. This newest set of images shows the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with a corner-set camera array with four circles in a square, interrupted by an LED flash, and a fifth (likely telephoto lens) just below.

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Sony Electronics has officially unveiled its new Spatial Reality (SR) Display, which is made using the company's Eye-Sensing Light Field Display. The display was shown off at CES in January and doesn't require a VR headset. Sony says that the display enables creators in various industries to bring their ideas to life in three dimensions.

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