CARY – Want to create 3D models from smartphone photos? You can now, says Epic Games.

The Cary-based gaming technology company that’s among the leaders in developing the virtual “metaverse” has launched a beta test of its RealityScan, a 3D scanning app.

It’s free.

“Capturing real-world assets for digital experiences has traditionally been complicated, technical, and labor-intensive. Now in limited beta, RealityScan takes what people love about RealityCapture—fast and easy 3D scanning—and puts it into the hands of anyone with a smartphone, turning their cameras into an endless source of creativity,” Epic says in its announcement.

“As more creators and hobbyists embrace 3D photogrammetry, we want to make our technology even more accessible, so anyone can bring ultra-detailed, digital models of real-world objects into their virtual projects. Today marks an exciting new step in that direction.”

The news come as Epic also rolls out a new version of its globally used game and technology development engine Unreal.

The app was developed along with Capturing Reality (creator of RealityCapture) and Quixel (creator of Megascans).

“As more creators and hobbyists embrace 3D photogrammetry, RealityScan empowers anyone to bring ultra-detailed, digital models of real-world objects into their virtual projects. RealityScan walks users through the scanning experience with interactive feedback, AR guidance, and data quality-checks. Once scanning is complete, RealityScan creates a realistic model almost instantly thanks to its lightning-fast photogrammetry software. From there, users can seamlessly upload their finished assets to Sketchfab,  the ultimate platform for publishing, sharing, and selling 3D, VR and AR content,” Epic said.

Watch the video:

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