From Walking to Running in Circles — I Tested the Matterport PRO3 Scanner — and WOW!

I scanned the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA while beta-testing Matterport’s new PRO3 LIDAR scanner. This was my second time scanning The Palace. My first time was in 2015 and I used the PRO1.

The PRO3 is impressive with the speed of each scan (18–20 seconds), the consistency of alignment, the distance that can be achieved between scan points, and its ability to scan in broad daylight. Being able to complete a Matterport scan outdoors, without worrying about the sunlight is a big deal! Plus, using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology means it is more accurate than the PRO1/2.

The first time I scanned ‘The Palace’ was in November 2015 and it required that I get there shortly after sunrise, and scan before the sun rose too high to be able to capture new scan points and get alignment. The Matterport PRO1 & 2 use infrared to capture the surrounding 3D data to create a 3D mesh. The sun’s rays are also infrared which interfere with the PRO1/2 gathering enough data to align scan points. So, to capture outdoors generally required scanning near sunrise or sunset, which is very limiting.

Also impacting scanning outdoors was the loss of interior 3D data such as ceilings, walls, furniture, fixtures, and appliances. Subsequent scan alignment is dependent on having enough 3D data that is ‘shared data’ between two scan points for the AI software to know where to place the next scan point in relation to the prior…