From lending 3D scanners to universities to creating replica of sculptures and restaurants, 3D scanning has been used innovatively across the world. Market players have been finding the gaps and trying to fill them with their innovative offerings. 3D scanning has unleashed the power of technology and saved a lot of money for people along with enabling them to experience things they have never experienced or thought of experiencing before. Creation of replicas of art pieces to restaurants has been possible. Moreover, 3D scanning services have been offered to universities for serving educational purposes. Handheld scanners have been launched. The market for 3D scanning is gaining traction. According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global 3D scanning market is expected to reach $53.34 billion by 2025.

Following are some of the activities taking place across the world:

Market players have been making sure that even visually impaired would experience the finest pieces of art. They have launched projects to produce replica in collaboration with sculpture centers to ensure everyone experiences an art. NVision Inc. joined hands with Nasher Sculpture Center to enable visually impaired people engage with modern works of sculptors. The scanning of four sculptures had been performed by NVision for Nasher. This scanning has been used for 3D printing the replicas of sculptures for educational experience for visually impaired and blind people. Lynda Wilbur, the Manager of tour programs at the Nasher, highlighted that this collaboration would make it possible for everyone to experience the works of masters like Rodin. These scans offer public to gain rare, hands-on experience to works by artists of the 20^th century. Technicians from NVision carried out the 3D scanning procedure in the Nasher’s Conservation and Art Storage facilities using the handheld scanner of the company. The details on shapes, contours, and surface were collected. Based on the details, 3D-printed models were created.

Creating a replica of a restaurant with the help of 3D scanned model in another country is the recent project undertaken in China. Yorkshire-based fish and chips restaurant Scotts has been replicated in China with the help of 3D scanning and printing. It has been a part of project of Chinese businessman Jimmy Yu, and set up as a working retail space. As Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the restaurant during his visit to the U.K. in 2015, Scotts raised to fame and it has become a tourist attraction in China. Unknown Works, the London-based architectural studio, carried out the project that was based on 3D scanning. The scanning involved patinas, textures, interiors, and exteriors of Scotts and different fish & chip shops across the U.K. Minute details including salt shakers and wallpaper textures were involved in the model. Theo Games Petrohilos, the Co-founder and Director of Unknown Works, outlined that the company intended to transport the idea of Britishness to the mall of Chengdu. He added that the installation was complicated due to compact nature of space in the mall and the installation was available only in the evening. The restaurant has been replicated in nearly 30sqm.

Another project has been launched to enable universities gain access to 3D scanning. Jisc will offer free 3D scanning service to universities for giving an access to items that are too fragile or precious for real-life inspection. As scanning equipment is costly and intricate, many universities are not able to afford them. Jisc intends to fill this gap and offer both 2D and 3D images. Sarah Fitzpatrick, the Head of history and history of art at the University of Buckingham, highlighted that students would get an access to high-quality digital imaging of major works from the curriculum. This will enable them to appreciate artistic techniques better and study issues regarding conservation and restoration in detail. Universities need to send the objects to the company for scanning. The experts will scan them and make digital files that can be downloaded in several formats. This central and shared 3D scanning service will be provided for free to universities. The company will gain the right to license 3D objects to other organizations for covering the running costs. However, universities will be able to utilize these scans in a way they choose to be.

Launching innovative products is one of the strategies adopted by market players to gain major market share. Innovation has been at the forefront of the manufacturers. Phiz released a new 3D scanner that can be used from a laptop or smartphone. This scanner is compatible with 3D printers available in the market. User can scan anything and send it to 3D printer, which produces accurate results. In addition, it offers an ability to reverse-engineer the design and improve the existing design. The company focused on offering exceptional accuracy to enable users to develop detailed 3D assets from physical collections. Along with offering 3D printing capabilities, it offers AR compatibility for bringing digitalization. The company’s patent-pending technology is implemented to enable the critical components of 3D scanning system to become independent of each other. All sizes of smartphones have been supported and high-resolution 3D scans are enabled.