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Microsoft Kinect 3D Scanner In-Depth Review

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8Expert Score

Microsoft Kinect

Microsoft Kinect is a simple scanner that’s able to produce decent quality 3d scans at a reasonable price.

Affordability

9

Quality

8

Speed

7

Capability

7

Practicality

7

User Expectations

10

PROS

  • High-resolution scans
  • Extremely compatible software
  • Easy scanning process

CONS

  • Need good lighting to produce good quality scans

Table of Contents

The Kinect 3D scanner uses similar 3D scanning technology to photogrammetry. The process consists of taking multiple pictures from different angles of an object. The scanner comprises a camera, an infrared camera that is meant for calculating the field of depth of object as well as around.

Both the cameras used by Kinect permits users to make a decently accurate 3D scan of almost any object that they wish to scan. But how does the scanner rank when seen in terms of value: money ratio? We can only tell by looking at it in-depth. So, let’s get started.

Features

Some of the most valuable features of the scanner are mentioned and explained below.

Affordable

Because Kinect can be constructed easily and its complete information is available online for free, you don’t need to undergo any complex process of setting it up and shipping it from anywhere. Also, the parts of which Kinect is made up, are comparatively cheaper.

So, if you have a 3D printer all you have to do is buy the components that are necessary to make the scanner run and that’s it. You need not spend much on this scanner.

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DIY Kit

The complete assembly of components, as well as 3D printing of the necessary parts, can be done on your own. Just refer to the online instructions available to complete the setup.

Kinect can be constructed as other DIY kits and this makes up a great opportunity for all those who are willing to invest time in learning a little deeper about 3D scanning technology.

Easy to use software

Skanect as well as the other software that is compatible with the scanner are extremely user-friendly. Their interface allows you to reach the tool that you are searching for, extremely fast.

Also, the entire system is relatively easy to grasp. Even if you do not have any sort of technical background, it’s fine. You will still be able to operate the scanner pretty easily.

Open-source

Kinect is an open-sourced 3D scanner. This presents a great opportunity for those who wish to innovate and use a machine for obtaining the kind of work they wish to achieve. Also, it means that nothing is fixed.

The scanner can be scaled according to your project. Moreover, everything is accessible to everyone from the internet.

Specifications

Kinect is equipped with two cameras that take multiple images of an object that you wish to scan. It needs a PC adapter and a PC to produce high-quality scans of parts and functional prototypes. The device can be connected using a USB port.

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Price

Since it’s available as a DIY and needs to be purchased in terms of components, there isn’t any fixed cost for this scanner.

First Impression

Credit: all3dp

The first thing that you need to do is acquire the required hardware i.e. three things in order to start with the scanner:

  1. The Kinect: can be bought either from Xbox 360 or Xbox One. These are available from almost any electronics shop.
  2. The PC adapter: Because Kinect is made to be used in its respective Xbox and not in a PC like other scanners, you’ll have to obtain a Kinect 360 to PC adapter.
  3. A PC: It can be either a laptop or desktop with a free USB port.

The minimum requirement to get you started is:

  • Latest Kinect drivers downloaded
  • A 64-bit Processor
  • Dual-core (3.1Ghz) or faster CPU
  • A 4GB of Ram
  • Nvidia CUDA graphic card or a Kinect Fusion compatible GPU
  • A compatible USB 3.0 port one that is offered by Intel or Renesas chipset

Setup

Credit: all3dp

Although the Kinect needs to undergo some process before starting 3D scanning with the same, it’s good to say that you can plug it into a power source and start scanning. After having plugged it into your PC, you can download its drivers. These codes will instruct your computer on how to handle the Kinect.

For users who are running it on Windows 10, it’s likely that the drivers inside will get downloaded automatically after the recognition of Kinect by your PC. In case this doesn’t happen, simply download the drivers from Microsoft. Other than this, you will have to download software that allows you to use your Kinect for 3D scanning.

To set up Skanect, open the .exe file as soon as it’s downloaded. A simple interface will await you once the process is completed. The setup will take three steps:

  1. Clicking on the New section that’s present on the menu under the title “Prepare.” By doing so, you can mess around with various settings depending on which object you wish to scan.
  2. Choosing the bounding box size that is the most appropriate for the object. Doing so lets you choose from the presets that are already provided. Instead, you can also use a custom one by clicking the slider and moving it with the mouse.
  3. Choosing a path for saving the scanned object. Note that this would not be the final model, but only the .skn file of the same that can be later opened in the Skanect.

After finishing the setup, click the start button to be taken to the next step of the scanning process.

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Scan Type

The process of scanning is quite simple. All you need to do is just hover the Kinect 3D scanner around the object as if it were orbiting the part.

While doing so, the software will use the background to help track the position of the object. So, in case you wish to rotate the object, the background will be scanning and will always be the same. This scenario applies especially to photogrammetry and for normal 3D scanning.

Ensure that there is a good amount of lighting during the entire scanning process because bad lighting won’t just make it harder, but also lead to a final render with the poorly colored model. So, take your time and ensure that the scans are done slowly and with patience.

Also, check that Kinect is passed through the entire object from all the angels. This can be done by keeping an eye on your PC. Moreover, scanning makes certain that all the areas of the object are appearing neatly.

Scan Quality

Credit: all3dp

Kinect’s scan quality is just about average. You can see the brightness is very inconsistent. And this is because of its camera not being locked. This means that the scanner will adapt the brightness based on the direction that you’re pointing to the sensor. Also, because the cameras present on the Kinect are at wide angles to each other.

Such an arrangement makes it extremely appropriate for sensing motion as well as the depth of people present in front of the TV playing games. But it has its own downsides i.e. 3D scanning on a manual turntable is almost impossible because the tracking gets confused as your arm enters the frame.

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Software

Credit: all3dp

3D Scan is a free Windows 10 application that uses your Kinect for creating 3D models. It can be downloaded from Microsoft. Other than this, you can use Skanect which is third-party software that is compatible with Kinect. It can be used by subscribing to its free or paid version.

The only difference between both of these is that the latter permits you to export the model with more faces and in color. Skanect can be downloaded from Occipital.

Customer Support

Kinect customer support is all given by its community of active users. All the solutions to your problems are available online and are accessible for free.

Parameters Influencing Buying Decision

The key factors that’ll help you decide upon the scanner are mentioned below.

3D Scanner Cost: Affordable

3D Scanner Speed: Average

3D Scan Quality: Two cameras make it possible for the scanner to deliver high-quality scans even while processing parts with intricate geometries.

3D Scanner Capability: The scanner is capable of taking multiple images of the object and then combining them to produce a single scan.

3D Scanner Practicality: It can be used for scanning everyday objects of small size and not much complex geometry.

3D Scanner User Expectations: Hobbyists, academicians, and even small manufacturers can use the scanner to achieve good results.

The Verdict

In a nutshell, Microsoft Kinect is a simple scanner that’s able to produce decent quality scans at a reasonable price. There isn’t something very fancy about the scanner, at the same time there isn’t something too lacking about the device.

Although it isn’t capable of letting you go in-depth, it doesn’t disappoint by providing bad-quality scans. Even while scanning intricate geometries, the scanner does deliver. So, enjoy the simplicity that suits your pockets.


Researchers Use Microsoft Kinect Xbox 360 Scanner to Obtain Topography for 3D Printable Radiotherapy Phantom - 3DPrint.com

To verify treatment when giving radiation, doctors often turn to radiotherapy phantoms for quality assurance, since the dosage can’t be directly measured. 3D printing is making it easier to fabricate these tissue-equivalent materials for patient-specific dosimetry purposes, and N. E. Zain and W. N. Rahman, researchers from the Universiti Sains Malyasia (USM), published a paper about this very topic.

“This study investigates the application of Microsoft Kinect® Xbox 360 scanner to model human topography for 3D printed radiotherapy phantom fabrication,” the abstract states.

Standard anthropomorphic phantoms are often too expensive to use in most cases, and don’t always represent the condition of the specific patient. But 3D printing can now be used for dosimetry applications, such as using a surface scanner to make a radiotherapy bolus. While previous studies focused on making 3D printed patient-specific phantoms by digitizing radiographs or abstracting data from CT images, this one obtained the surface topography for a 3D printable radiotherapy head phantom with a Microsoft Kinect Xbox 360 scanner.

“In contrast to using patient CT data to obtain patient-specific topography, the use of low cost, structured light, 3D optical scanner are more comfortable and reduce unwanted radiation dose to patients,” they explained.

Figure 1. a) Microsoft Kinect sensor b) Head of the Alderson RANDO phantom.

Developed for the Xbox 360 video gaming system, the high-resolution Microsoft Kinect sensor is an inexpensive, short-range 3D scanning camera. Three features work together to detect motion and create a physical image for users on the screen:

  • RGB (red, green, blue) color with a depth sensor
  • VGA (video graphics array) camera
  • Multi-array microphone

The original plan was to use the Kinect to eliminate game controllers, though as of 2018, Microsoft had discontinued all Kinect hardware for video games. But, because of its ability to measure color and depth simultaneously at video rate, the device actually gave Microsoft a leg up in academic and commercial applications. For this research in particular, the Kinect specifications make it “a great scanner to obtain the topography of the phantom.”

“In this study, we evaluate the Kinect® sensor by performing 3D scanning involving the head of the Alderson RANDO® phantom,” the researchers wrote.

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the setup between the Kinect scanner and RANDO phantom.

To test the performance and feasibility of the Kinect, the scanner angle was set at ± 10° and the distance between it and the standard phantom was ± 50 cm. In order to get the right amount of data, scanning was completed 360° around the phantom several times at different positions. In order get the data for rendering the phantom image, the scanner was connected to a desktop with Skanect software, and 3D Builder was later used to edit the images, which were saved in STL format.

Figure 3. The repeated 360° clockwise scanning process using Skanect software; a) 0° position, b) 45° position, c) 270° position and d) 360° position.

“The total scanning time to obtain the image is estimated at around 1 to 2 hours ascribable to the low video-rate procured; ±10 frames per second (FPS),” the researchers said.

“It is vital to ensure both phantom and scanner to be static during image acquisition to avoid data tracking lost. ”

The researchers note that when a computer with a slow processor is used, the scanning time will likely be delayed several time. A computer with a higher CPU can ensure a streamlined video with high-speed FPS, and it should also have significant RAM in order to “contain and run the applications smoothly.”

Figure 4. Options for 3D printing a) Whole phantom b) Hollow phantom.

You can see the final phantom image in STL format above. There are two interior design options for the phantom – whole with slots, and a hollow slot insertion.

“The finding suggests that the radiotherapy phantom can potentially be developed using the Kinect® sensor, which is easier and cheaper to operate in comparison to other techniques of fabricating 3D printed radiotherapy phantom,” the pair concluded.

“The application of 3D printed patient-specific radiotherapy phantom for quality assurance and treatment verification might improve the overall treatment quality in radiotherapy, especially using a low-cost type of scanner to obtain patient image data. ”

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Tagged with: 3d builder • 3D printed phantom • kinect • Malaysia • microsoft kinect • radiotherapy • scanner • Skanect • study • xbox 360

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Full-scale color 3D scanning and printing with Microsoft's 3D Builder

Of course, it's only to be expected that the company will venture into 3D printing technology after all. The 3D Builder app was developed about a year ago. With it, you can print effortlessly while uploading models or creating something new and original.

The 3D Builder app can be downloaded from the Windows Store. With it, you can download, view, edit, and print from a computer running Windows 8.1. But don't rush! One or two changes have been made to 3D Builder: now, thanks to a new product from Microsoft, you can enjoy really innovative and original works. The 3D Builder editor has been upgraded with the Kinect v2 sensor for Windows, which allows you to do full-scale color scanning yourself.

With the power of 3D Builder and Kinect, even inexperienced users can scan and print objects in full color. For example, if you want to scan yourself, then you will need someone who is very familiar with the device and the scanning process. And with Windows Kinect, you just have to stand still while the system scans you. The result is almost immediately displayed in the 3D Builder application, where you can improve the quality of the image and then print it.

With 3D Builder you can:

  • Scan color in 3D using Kinect for Windows Sensor v2;
  • improve and correct models automatically before printing;
  • fix models to prepare them for printing;
  • print directly from a 3D printer or order models through 3D Systems;
  • add inscriptions or drawings to any model;
  • combine and divide objects or cut them into pieces.

While we're all excited about bringing Kinect and 3D Builder together so you can scan yourself and your friends, Microsoft's Kinect Software Development Kit 2.0 is in the pipeline. It was supplemented with 200 new features in order to make Kinect even more convenient and accessible to users. At the same time, developers managed to place their applications for Kinect in the Windows Store, including:

  • 3D Builder;
  • Nayi Disha - an interactive application for early childhood education;
  • YAKiT is an application for creating 2D/3D character models.

“This has been frequently requested by users, and we're excited to give you the opportunity to personalize your PC experience even more with gesture control, body movement, and object recognition available to Windows users worldwide. Access to the Windows Store opens up a whole new market for businesses and consumers,” said a Microsoft spokesperson of the Kinect-integrated apps available in the Windows Store.

For best results, Microsoft highly recommends running 3D Builder with a Kinect v2 sensor for Windows.

All of these are completely free to download, except for the adapter to connect the Xbox One Kinect to a PC via USB 3.0. It can be purchased for $49.99.

Slicing an object in 3D Builder

The new Kinect Adapter for Windows also requires a USB 3.0 port, which costs 19$9, won't work with Xbox 360 Kinect sensor. The Kinect for Windows Application Development Kit (SDK) version 2.0 is currently available for free download. There are simply no additional fees for the commercial use of this software.

Source: Ink-Market.ru.

Using the XBox 360 to create a nanoscale 3D printer

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We have seen several instances where gaming systems such as the Microsoft Kinect Xbox 360 Scanner have been used for very different purposes. Recently, a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) published an article about how they hacked a Microsoft Xbox 360 and used one of its common components, replacing expensive traditional optics in their own 3D printer that can print objects at the micro and nano scale. This is a great example of how technology can be made easier to access simply by lowering the cost.


The researchers believe that the results of their nanoscale 3D printer could be useful for several different healthcare applications. Initially, scientists wanted to develop a drug delivery system based on micro-containers with a diameter of a human hair (100 ~ 300 micrometers) for more efficient development of oral drug delivery, but the same device can also be used to print painless micro-scale needles that will be applied to skin areas to accelerate transdermal introductions. Another possibility is to use it to print 3D structures of cell culture media for more precise ex-vivo drug testing. And the last example is the printing of biocompatible microdevices with nanostructured surfaces that kill bacteria.


It is not easy to make nanoscale photopolymerization a cost-effective solution. Using an Xbox optical drive reader or OPU is a good way to achieve this. The researchers explained that the OPU is used to read and write data from optical discs, including CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. “A mass-produced OPU (costing less than five dollars) provides not only a light source, but also diffraction-limited optics in a compact, car-key-like size.”


They explained that HD-DVD's compact OPU could simplify the design of the optical system because it has a "fine tuned diode laser" that allows resolution to be adjusted from tens of micrometers to hundreds of nanometers without the need for expensive femtosecond lasers or oxygen radical scavenging. It also has "a working optical distance of 1.25mm - four times that of the Blu-ray OPU", making it a flexible option for SLA printing, and "provides a continuous wave with multiple wavelengths (405/650/780 nm).

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