Comparison of iPad Pro®’s LiDAR and TrueDepth Capabilities with an Industrial 3D Scanning Solution

Today’s smart devices come equipped with powerful hard- and software-enabling professional use cases. The latest hardware by Apple utilizes LiDAR and TrueDepth, which offer the capability of 3D scanning. Devices equipped with these camera systems allow manufacturers to obtain 3D data from their customers at low costs, which potentially enables time-efficient mass customization and product differentiation strategies. However, the utilization is limited by the scanning accuracy. To determine the potential application of LiDAR and TrueDepth as a 3D scanning solution, in this paper an evaluation was performed. For this purpose, different Lego bricks were scanned with the technologies and an industrial 3D scanner. The results were compared according to shape and position tolerances. Even though the industrial 3D scanner consistently delivered more accurate results, the accuracy of the smart device technologies may already be sufficient, depending on the application.