Is markerless laser scanning a fad or the future? Is @Revopoint going to offer a markerless laser scanner in the near future? Will @Revopoint be able to update any of their laser scanners to support markerless laser scanning?
I am asking as I now see two other scanner makers now offering this feature. On the surface it seems like a great feature–I hate applying markers– but I also saw a video where it was mentioned that the scan accuracy can be reduced.
Have a look at the Trackit scanner. It does markerless laser scanning.
Every single Revopoint scanner does a structured light markerless scan. It relies on having a feature rich part to do so. The limitation is going to be a struggle with black or shiny/reflective parts using this mode. The newer scanner offerings are doing a better job to address this. See the Inspire 2 and POP4
@Nickluvin I am very familiar with Trackit–I have one. It is also a “process” to setup and use. I think the Trackit as more of a permanent setup style scanner–mine requires a large open space to scan thing.
I am talking about a Metro style scanner with markerless laser scanning. More of a grab and go style scanner. I saw that another Shenzhen based scanner company was able to “upgrade” an exisiting Metro style scanner to support markerless laser scanning and I am hoping that Revopoint might offer something similar.
Markerless laser means you need a way to track.
Markerless lasers scanners also have an IR part. Something like the metro has full field blue light. I do now think blue light can be used with blue lasers. It would cancel each other out. Reason IR is used.
So for this to happen you need to also have IR sensor. This also tanks your FPS as you are running and processing both scanning mode.
Just some things to keep in mind and reason why the blue full field scanners wont get an update like that. However we do have the pop4 coming out. So there is hope for that.
Hi @1bigpig
You always need something to be tracked or a marker or a feature , other other scanners use feature either scanning with laser what is a trick and the accuracy will never be as good , only global markers can actually provide the best accuracy , so in this case you get what you pay for , a gimmick .
Metro series can’t be updated because they don’t have infrared projector to do this kind of job .It is a hardware issue here that can’t be updated.
However as already mentioned the POP4 will bring a new way of scanning and moving forward with its new features.
Specs on the Rockit look really good and it claims to laser scan ‘marker free’, at the same cost point as a MetroY Ultra.
Einscan has never had a good release cadence on their software tho, so I’m skeptical of that for sure. I had one of their HX scanners before getting the Metro and their software did some good things and some not so good things. Their cadence was like a year between updates too.
Kinda hoping revopoint is making a marker free scanner soon…that would be awesome.
@MonsterMaxx I am pretty sure the Pop4 is going to be Revopoint’s entry into the markerless scanning. It looks like it has all the bits to make it markerless (cross laser lines and IR scanning). I think I am going to wait for the Pop4 Pro or Metro Z. I want to wait until Revopoint comes out with a confirmed markerless scanner.
Hi @1bigpig
The POP4 uses Full Field for markerless scanning where you need to scan objects with rich features , laser mode still need markers .
Not sure what markerless scanning entry scanner you mean by. Metro series use markerless scanning using Full Field as well
Played today with competitor Sermoon S1 markerless laser scanning - came via software update - it works. It is slightly unpredictable, I expected it to have similar limitations to NIR scanning, but I had a couple of weird situations. I have a plastic figure, scans alright in NIR, couldn’t get it to track in markerless mode laser even for a second..Then I tried to scan my car interior in a dark garage - NIR was tracking and scanning, although black plastics gave it a hard time. Markerless laser scanning failed completely, couldn’t track anything. I almost gave up, but then tried turning the light on inside the car - puff, perfect tracking, perfect scan :o
I’m not sure what happened there, both laser scanning and NIR scanning do not depend on any exterior light, in some cases it is even advised to scan in a dimly lit space - but this new markerless laser mode completely fails to work in low light.
Maybe it tracks RGB camera data, but then there would be no way for it to get a perfect track required for laser scanning.
Basically, when it works, it’s amazing, just point and shoot but with lasers. But it doesn’t always work - even on objects that scan well with NIR.
I wanted to share some thoughts regarding the recent technical updates.
In my view, the transition from regular NIR to laser is largely a gimmick, as you cannot simply change the pattern and expect a fundamental shift in performance. While the system will still track features, the primary advantage is simply that it requires fewer features to maintain that tracking.
A similar update was recently implemented for MIRACO, which reduced the feature density required for tracking based on new algorithms. While a combination of a full-field infrared projector and a laser may be effective, it still relies on a baseline of features to maintain a consistent lock.
Regarding the POP4, it utilizes an actual infrared laser with a slightly different pattern and additional micro-mirrors compared to the standard structured light found in the POP3.
However, it is important to note that this setup cannot provide the highest level of accuracy found in the Metro series or Trackit. For applications requiring superior precision and accuracy, markers or better global markers remain the most effective option for now.
You’re 100% right.
You’re just missing one little thing - lasers scan everything, black, chrome, touch screens. Basically you don’t have the option to say what kind of object you’re scanning, because it doesn’t matter.
You are right that probably the markerless laser scanning would yield worse results than lasers with markers, but sometimes you just don’t care.
Take my car example.
I can’t scan it in the NIR mode - too many shiny and black objects - NIR just doesn’t see them.
And I’m not spraying my entire dashboard with a scanning spray.
Lasers would scan it fine, but I have to cover my dashboard with stickers - I don’t really wanna 
Enter the markerless mode - I just turn it on and scan away. Lower detail than lasers with markers? I’m fine with that. Hell, I’d even be fine if it had lower detail than NIR mode 
You don’t always need 0.1mm acuracy - but you always need a scan with all surfaces
Do I think it’s a must have in a modern scanner - naah.
But it’s a nice to have I guess.
It doesn’t matters if you use markers , if you use hybrid it relays on features with markerless scanning. NIR is doing actually the tracking in this case and it tracks the surface /feature .
Exactly correct
I agree , for many cases I don’t care either , for example with organic forms where the accuracy is not that important .
I think POP4 will be finally what you were waiting for since we doing similar work and that is a game changer to be able to scan outdoors regardless of the weather without the needs of heavy equipment or specific power source . 4 hours on one battery is a lot of time too.
@PUTV I should have said “I am pretty sure the Pop4 is going to be Revopoint’s entry into the LASER markerless scanning.” I just assumed that under the topic of “Markerless laser scanning” I was refering to laser markerless scanning. My bad.
appreciate the clarification and understood your points well; I was simply sharing my general perspective on the matter.
On that note, I recently read about an emerging technology used in markerless laser scanning that utilizes a Laser and LIDAR combination. According to the research, this approach appears to provide superior results compared to the Laser and NIR Laser hybrid systems. I would be very interested to see this technology in action, as I believe it could offer an ideal solution for scanning diverse materials while simultaneously improving color-per-vertex capture without to worry much about object’s features.
It is great to see the POP4 moving forward with its latest technological implementation, and I am excited to see the results soon in action.