Gone are the days where you need to spend hundreds on a bulky camera to take a 3D photograph. Software company Matter and Form showcased its new product at CES in Las Vegas: an attachment that takes real 3D photographs on a smartphone or tablet.
Called the Bevel, the smartphone and tablet accessory is unique from other attachments on the market because of the picture-taking process. Most other attachments enhance the depth of an image in order to create the illusion that a captured image is 3D. The Bevel utilizes a laser light, which is safe for the eye, in conjunction with the camera on a smartphone to add the third dimension.
“What it’s made for is to get people into 3D,” said Drew Cox to iDigitalTimes. “2D is awesome — we use it every day. We should also be able to do that with 3D. There’s no reason why not. It doesn’t need to be technical.”
Using the Bevel, which has been named a CES 2016 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Digital Imaging category, is simple for the user. The gadget, which measures 2/5 inches, works by plugging it into the headphone jack of the device and then focusing on the picture subject, as done when taking any other photograph.
“You just pan over the person or the place or the thing you’re trying to scan,” said Cox. “And what you get back is the full 3D file.”
There is an accompanying app that comes with the attachment, which allows users to share their pictures on social media, save them to their device or share them online with a link.
“We designed the app to be very social so you pass files back and forth through social networks in the same ways you normally do,” Cox said.
In addition to the social media savvy users, Cox said the ecommerce industry is another key demographic for the product.
“There are a lot of people that have stores online that want to show their products off in 3D,” said Cox. “2D is great but, again, 3D is going to give the user a little bit more. And so that’s what we do: we give you the ability to both capture in 3D and show off on your website in full 3D.
Bevel is currently in its prototype phase, after spending over a year working on the product and a successful crowdfunding effort on Kickstarter, and will retail for $49 later this year.
