Sony XZ1 and Sony XZ1 Compact: The smartphone becomes a 3D scanner
1.9.2017
Translation: machine translated
Video: Dominik Bärlocher, Stephanie Tresch
Sony has unveiled new smartphones at IFA. They are largely similar to their predecessors, but not only bring Android O, but also a new feature: the Sony XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are fully functional 3D scanners. We have tested the scanner.
At first glance, video producer Stephanie Tresch thinks she is dealing with a colour variant of its predecessor - the Sony XZ Premium, which was launched in February. But she is actually holding the new Sony XZ1 in her hands. By and large, the device resembles its shiny chrome predecessor from February, but it is much smaller. Despite its size, Sony has not skimped on the hardware. The XZ1 with a 5.2-inch screen diagonal and its smaller sibling, the XZ1 Compact with 4.6 inches, have largely the same specs as the premium model. Sony has saved on the battery, but this does not necessarily mean a shorter battery life, as the chipset has been optimised. Only a long-term test can show whether this is really the case or not.
At the IFA in Berlin, we got our hands on one of the devices after the Sony stand closed and Stephanie tested the main feature of the device. Because the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are not just a phone, camera and whatever else a smartphone is these days, but also a 3D scanner.
The dance to the scan
Stephanie holds out as a guinea pig. She has to stand still and keep a straight face while Nadia Rasetti from Sony demonstrates the feature. The 3D Creator app searches for Stephanie's face, then instructs Nadia where to go and where in the resulting 3D scan she has missed a spot on Stephanie's head. A patch of hair there, a spot under the chin there. To outsiders, it looks as if Nadia is performing a strange dance around Stephanie.
The result: Rather mixed. Stephanie is clearly recognisable, but the left half of her face looks a little squashed. We try again. This time a little slower and less hectic. It works wonderfully and the virtual Stephanie looks just like herself. Somehow uncanny. When I see Real!Stephanie and VR!Stephanie next to each other, I'm struck somewhere by the effect known as Uncanny Valley, which occurs when something looks deceptively realistic but somehow isn't. And the real Stephanie next to her digital likeness definitely falls into this uncanny valley.
3D models for every purpose
She can then put the finished model of Stephanie on virtual bodies. She can adjust her skin colour and body type according to certain criteria and then make the figure dance. Or she can send her virtual face as a GIF that performs a gesture.
"Well, that's quite funny," I hear you say, "but what's the point?" There is still no practical application beyond a bit of social media fun. But the data that the 3D scanner spits out can be saved in obj format and sent to a 3D printer.
"obj files are like the PDF of the 3D world," says Mariana Hurtado, our expert for tinkering and 3D printing. The data is difficult to edit afterwards, but it is not impossible. "To use another file format analogy: It's kind of like if you want to edit a jpg, but there's a psd file with all the layers lying around somewhere." That's probably not too bad in the case of a body scan or a face scan, even if it might be interesting to see what you look like with a smaller nose or bigger ears.
Stephanie shows her dancing digital clone around and we realise that the 3D creator app is not content to simply slap a skin on a model. But the digital Stephanie smiles and raises her eyebrows. That's a lot of data processing and programme intelligence for a bit of Instagram fun. Nevertheless: we are impressed.
The 3D Creation app will soon be installed on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium with the update to Android O.
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Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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