Invasion of the body scanners

A key to accurate body scanning is the ability to digitize the body in three dimensions. Digital three-dimensional representations of real objects or models have been used for computer-generated special effects in movies. Where manual generation of such a model is very time consuming and expensive, it is possible to obtain an accurate three-dimensional representation of an object, even the human body, using optical scanning methods. Optical scanning has many advantages in that it is accurate, noncontact, and extremely rapid. It can be combined with color cameras to obtain a full-color, three-dimensional digital image, and an entire body can be scanned in less than 20 seconds