Epic Game's new RealityScan app can create 3D models of real objects instantly

Epic Games has launched RealityScan, a new smartphone app that can create 3D models of a real-life object in an instant. Here is why it might have timed the software's release perfectly.

Epic Games has introduced a new app that will let smartphone users create 3D models by simply clicking a photo of an object. The app is called RealityScan and comes as the latest tool by the firm for content creators, especially those wanting to produce a virtual world. RealityScan comes as a free 3D scanning app and is currently in limited beta.

For the limited beta testing, Epic is granting access to 10,000 users via TestFlight on a first-come, first-served basis. It says that early access for the app will be available for iOS by Spring, while Android phones will get it later this year. Until then, Epic will be testing the limited beta for bugs and removing them as they get reported by the participants.

As for what it does, RealityScan is a photogrammetric software that is able to "reconstruct objects and scenes of any size from images or laser scans." In doing so, Epic promises 3D scans "with unparalleled accuracy" and mesh quality at much faster speeds than competing software. Epic says that the app will provide access to photogrammetry "for creators of all levels."

RealityScan has been developed in collaboration with Capturing Reality and Quixel. The former is the maker of RealityCapture, a similar app that creates 3D models out of unordered photographs, while Quixel is the firm behind Megascans, considered to be the world's largest scan library for 3D models.

RealityScan will work much like RealityCapture and enable easy 3D scanning, only for smartphones this time. With this, the app will be a huge relief from the traditionally laborious process of creating digital versions of real-world assets. Epic says that the use of the app for creating digital models will be made easier by interactive feedback, AR guidance, and data quality checks within the app.

Once RealityScan completes a scan, it creates a 3D model of the target object "almost instantly," proving its worth as a "lightning-fast photogrammetry software," as per Epic. Users can even share their captured objects to Sketchfab, a platform for publishing, sharing, and selling 3D, VR and AR content.

Though still in beta, Epic's claims make RealityScan sound to be an extremely important tool that will hit the markets just at the right time. As the world moves towards the metaverse, an easy digital depiction of a real-life object can go a long way in letting creators design the virtual world of their choice, which can further help shape a metaverse.