State-of-The-Art and Applications of 3D Imaging Sensors in Industry, Cultural Heritage, Medicine, and Criminal Investigation

TLDR

3D imaging sensors have gained interest for applications across industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation, driven by miniaturization, integration, and sensor fusion, enabling compact, robust, and portable solutions that integrate with CAD‑CAM and rapid prototyping tools. The study presents significant examples of 3D imaging sensor use in industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation. It does so by first reviewing the state‑of‑the‑art of 3D imaging sensors.

Abstract

3D imaging sensors for the acquisition of three dimensional (3D) shapes have created, in recent years, a considerable degree of interest for a number of applications. The miniaturization and integration of the optical and electronic components used to build them have played a crucial role in the achievement of compactness, robustness and flexibility of the sensors. Today, several 3D sensors are available on the market, even in combination with other sensors in a "sensor fusion" approach. An importance equal to that of physical miniaturization has the portability of the measurements, via suitable interfaces, into software environments designed for their elaboration, e.g., CAD-CAM systems, virtual renders, and rapid prototyping tools. In this paper, following an overview of the state-of-art of 3D imaging sensors, a number of significant examples of their use are presented, with particular reference to industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation applications.