To ensure perfect results from your smartphone’s LiDAR scan, there are a few tips and tricks you should keep in mind. This will save you valuable time during the subsequent post-processing of your 3D model and ensure that your scan is as accurate as the technology of the built-in LiDAR sensor allows. Read more about it in this article.
The first question is about equipment. For our scans, you need an iPhone Pro with an integrated LiDAR sensor and our Realitiq app; alternatively, an iPad Pro will also work. This requirement is already half the battle on the way to your perfect LiDAR scan and subsequent 3D model of the property.
Before you start the scanning process in the property, it’s helpful to prepare the apartment for the scan. Point number one: The brightness in the rooms. Turn on all available lights and open all curtains, blinds, etc. The brighter a room is, the easier it is for the LiDAR scan to recognize the contours.
Doors and windows should ideally be closed to ensure they are correctly detected and interpreted by the scan. To optimally recognize walls, floors, and corners of a room, it’s also helpful to remove smaller objects that might be obstructing the view. Of course, as a real estate agent or tradesperson, you obviously won’t be moving large pieces of furniture like wardrobes against the walls. However, simply removing smaller, lighter items like moving boxes from corners can often make a big difference.
That’s essentially all you need to begin scanning a property.
When starting a new scan, the golden rule is: work slowly and thoroughly. Move slowly around the room and rotate your smartphone in all directions to capture walls and floors – don’t forget the ceiling. The minimap displayed on the screen shows your scan progress.
Position yourself and your device from different angles in the room to capture more detail. It’s also important to focus specifically on corners to ensure they are captured accurately.
Always keep at least three arm lengths away from the surfaces you are scanning, whether walls or freestanding furniture. This is where your well-practiced “baby elephant” (a reference to the distance you’ve been using during the pandemic) comes in handy. When scanning freestanding furniture like sofas, dining tables, etc., also scan behind the furniture by moving around it. It helps to treat each piece of furniture like a first-rate work of art, like the statue of David. This way, you slowly admire your piece of furniture from all angles, while maintaining a respectful distance from its grandeur. At least with this image in mind, you’ll feel less foolish, right?
By the way, be careful with reflective surfaces like mirrors, as these can confuse the scanner. Similar to most animals, the LiDAR scanner is bothered by its own reflection. This is because laser pulses are scattered in various directions when they hit a reflective surface. However, as long as you avoid frontal mirror confrontations, this should not be a problem during the scan.
Whether furnished or empty, always allow extra time for scanning larger rooms. Use an S-shaped movement pattern to avoid drift errors in the measurement. Drift error in LiDAR sensors refers to the gradual inaccuracy that accumulates over time during longer scans. This is due to the difficulty of precisely tracking the sensor’s absolute position and orientation, which leads to drift in the generated point clouds.
It’s also important to avoid scanning the same area too often. While it can be helpful to scan the same area for a longer period so the app can recognize walls and reinterpret sections, frequently returning to a previously scanned area can potentially disrupt the LiDAR scan’s alignment because the scan won’t be able to properly complete the guided loop through the room.
Take your time when changing rooms, especially with varying light levels or between indoor and outdoor areas, so the scanner can adjust to the new lighting conditions. Ideally, your doors should be closed. Simply open them with the active scanner in hand, walk through the door, swivel the scanner back towards the door so the room change is recognized, and then close the door again.
If you have a larger project with multiple rooms, it can also be useful to scan each room individually. This way, if a scan isn’t perfect, you always have the option of rescanning the room without having to rescan the entire property. However, make sure you work your way through the property room by room so that the final model accurately maps the rooms.
Speaking of accuracy: The accuracy of LiDAR scans on iPhones is very high for many everyday tasks, within a few centimeters. For small objects, the absolute accuracy is approximately +/- 1 cm. The relative accuracy can be in the single-digit centimeter range. For larger objects like building facades, the absolute accuracy can be around +/- 10 cm. At distances of up to 5 meters, as with real estate, the relative accuracy can be in the single-digit centimeter range. With our scanning tips, you can certainly achieve the maximum accuracy of this technology.
Scanning a property with your iPhone takes a little practice to achieve optimal results. Accuracy is limited by the built-in LiDAR sensor technology, so we can’t improve it. However, the tips and error messages our app provides during the scanning process are helpful. For example, if a room is too dark, you’re too close to an object, or the transition to the next room wasn’t properly detected. In these cases, simply adjust your scanner’s orientation, try moving to the next room again, or, in the worst-case scenario, restart the scan.
If you use our photo and focus point features during the scan, post-processing your 3D model will be significantly easier. Focus points are particularly useful for marking objects that you plan to add to the 3D model later, such as electrical outlets, light switches, or other technical installations. You can also use these focus points to highlight features within the property, which will then appear as such in the model.
Ultimately, the more closely you follow our tips, the more accurate your final 3D model will be, and the less post-processing you’ll need to do in our editor. Therefore, it’s definitely worth taking the time to learn more.
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To ensure perfect results from your smartphone’s LiDAR scan, there are a few tips and tricks you should keep in mind. This will save you valuable time during the subsequent post-processing of your 3D model and ensure that your scan is as accurate as the technology of the built-in LiDAR sensor allows. Read more about it in this article.