Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Point cloud data, and a corresponding surface mesh
The bottlenecks are computing power and the lack of algorithms intel-
ligent enough to “ill in the gaps” to complete the details of a digital point
cloud. The computer doesn't necessarily understand what it scanned, so you
can't just scan a vase and ask the computer to make the vase wall a little
thicker, because the computer wouldn't know where exactly the wall begins
and ends and which direction is “thicker.” Like other digital software tools,
optically scanned data doesn't capture an object's insides. This is changing
thanks to improving medical imaging technologies such as CT scanners,
MRIs, and ultrasound.
Why design software can't keep up
Modern design software is still dogged by its roots, by the fact that it grew out
of manufacturing and animation ields that only recently started 3D printing.
The same design tools that were intended to deal with limited amounts of
computing power and save time, money and improve knowledge transfer, ironi-
cally, also place limitations on what can be 3D printed. As a result, a design
ile doesn't depict the detailed insides of physical things (at least without a lot
of additional custom work). Nor can design software graphically model and
predict the behavior of complicated blends of different materials.
