Unlike the NextEngine Desktop 3D Scanner which costs $2,495, this software is free and can be used with some gadgets you may have laying around the house.

According to the Institute for Robotics and Process Control (Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany) who created the software, “All you need is a PC, a camera (e.g. a webcam), a background corner, and a laser which projects a line onto the object you want to scan.”

This is similar to how Industrial Research’s 3D Crime Scene Scanner works. The DAVID software computes the beam length as you “brush over the object with the laser” to render the object on your screen in 3D.

Via Engadget