Snap in a 3D way for free! – Arqball Spin

 

Have you ever wanted to create 3D 360 degree video images of products or objects quickly and easily? Apart from the app of Spincam I have introduced, Arqball Spin has been created to provide you with a simple way to capture, create and edit 360 degree spins with your iPhone 4s.

Using the iPhone’s camera, the app takes a series of images and uses some software black magic to create the finished product. The model, or “spin”, can be cropped and adjusted in the sector of brightness, saturation and contrast like a regular photograph. Users can create custom annotations to identify or comment on specific parts of the “spin” as well and viewers can rotate the model 360 degrees and zoom in on any part to understand more clearly. The app works best if the object is situated on Arqball’s stage, which rotates at an optimal three RPM. The app is free, but for those who pre-order a stage for further enhancements and performances will be charged 60USD, and it will cost 20USD more if you want to wait until it is on sale.

By making photo-realistic 3D modeling so easy and accessible, I see this technology as a perfect future for online retailers and educators to explain their theories and products. While the app holds obvious commercial appeal, the company’s not counting out casual users, and hopes to see a future filled with user-created 3D content. The question now remains would be how fast the 3D image will be created and how detailed would it be.