What is reality capture?

- Science fiction realized. At its most basic level, reality capture is a term that refers to the process of acquiring real-world objects using a sensor of some kind and recreating a digital replica that you can view and analyze with 3D software. Reality capture has been labeled synonymous with the science of remote sensing. The science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites. Reality capture technology has somewhat miniaturized this data collection process with the use of handheld sensors, sensors on tripods, or small sensors attached to unmanned remote control vehicles. I think of reality capture in its current definition as the process of creating a permanent record or memory of a subject that is a very accurate geometric representation of it. When we think of it this way, it opens the door to possibilities such as the integration of sound, haptic or touch technology, olfactory or smell tech, and other technologies that all put together can further enhance the delivered experience. Processing reality capture typically entails stitching together smaller geometric files or portions of the subject captured by a sensor into larger ones to create a full 3D digital replica of the subject of interest, much like putting together a 3D jigsaw puzzle. The sensor could be a regular camera, a 3D or stereoscopic camera, a laser scanner which produces LiDAR, or like detection and ranging, a drone and ultrasound machine, an MRI, ground-penetrating radar or radio detection and ranging, and so forth. These devices capture a series of images, sensory returns, or calculate the position of the real world from a sound or light wave and reconstruct a digital 3D model. The real world subject could be a person, a building, any landscape, or other object which is replicated on a computer. What's truly special about this capture and digital replication process is that not only is the data often photorealistic, it can also be measurable. That's a remarkable attribute to this technology which is one reason why reality capture has gained widespread adoption in various industries to include medical, visual effects, and the architectural, engineering, and construction fields, or AEC. Working in the world of AEC has become a large part of our reality capture firm because the demand is high for creating As-Builts, which by definition, are the representation of the appearance, condition, function, or structure of a space, place, or subject. These usually look like a set of paper drawings or blueprints as they were referred to in the past, or perhaps a digital computer-aided drafting file or 3D model of some sort. The traditional methods for creating As-Builts involved a tape measurer, a hand laser meter, or perhaps a surveyor's total station. Yet, with reality capture technology, this process has been greatly optimized allowing for a generally faster and much more accurate survey of a project site or building. Reality capture differs from traditional surveying in that the deliverable is a fairly comprehensive photorealistic 3D model or 2D image that provides an accurate representation of the space or place requiring minimal human interpretation. Traditional surveying involves researching property boundaries, staking out construction sites with physical markers, locating points on the earth that are tied into a known coordinate system, and other locating operations. While surveys also use reality capture technology to support their process of locating things on the planet, they have a larger scope to their duties than just representing things in 3D. For them, 2D or 3D engineering grade information may be necessary to deliver. So, when I talk about reality capture, you can think of this as recreating or rendering subjects in 2D or 3D, but not necessarily to locate them on the surface of the earth. Sometimes a subject that has been reality captured has no relationship to a geographic location, it's just a replica of something for the sake of replication. Reality capture is to me a technology that's ever-evolving and it's helping us share or analyze a subject with others in a way that's easily interpreted. And one day, reality capture will be as ubiquitous as any other communication tool that we commonly use. Ultimately, reality capture is a way to solidify our memory of a real-world experience.