We set new standards in the 3D scanning industry

New York, 2010. Thomas Strenger, a German engineer and tv producer, together with a friend is preparing a report on the first store in the US that concentrates completely on 3D printing. They are fascinated by the new technology and decide spontaneously: this is what we need to export to Berlin! After thorough preparation, the first shop for 3D printers, filaments and more opens its doors in the trendy neighbourhood of Kreuzberg’s Moritzplatz. 

Soon the founders recognize that one important element is missing: the robust, exact scanner that delivers the necessary data for a 3D model which automatically includes the kind of true colors they are used to from their tv background. Their expertise tells them that the only technology capable of offering the complete package they are dreaming of is photogrammetry. With all their effort, they manage to present towards the end of the same year botscan 01 – their first full body scanner, developed by botspot, which nearly 10 years later is still doing what it is supposed to do: Capturing a precise image within fragments of a second, with a set of many, perfectly synchronised SLR cameras, built into a box with optimal lighting. 

This is the begin of a success story that illustrates the sustainability of this concept. More and more clients want to get scanned, first for little, 3D printed figurines of themselves, then increasingly for more demanding digital avatars. The 3D shop soon becomes history, the dynamically growing company moves to an innovation center near the river Spree and dedicates with full energy to the continuous development of its complex core technology. The team secures new patents, develops medical applications, exports scanning systems to the whole world and manages to push the limits of photogrammetry further and further. This allows botspot to set new benchmarks for the scanning of objects, too: the combination of an ultrafast, simultaneous capture of geometry and texture proves to be optimal especially for the digitization of huge quantities of objects in a short lapse of time. 

This becomes one of the main requests on a market which since the beginning of the Covid pandemic needs to find an answer to the question: how can we best substitute the physical process of buying in the digital world? Botspot’s portfolio of scanning systems offers the ideal basis for the solutions everybody is now looking for. Again botspot leads the way of technical progress, through its ownInnovation Lab that develops individual solutions, with proprietary software and elaborate workflows, for clients from a variety of fields. American sports brands use botspot’s solutions for the perfect 3D capture of their sneakers,German premium automotive brands for the quality control in their production lines; international luxury fashion brands trust botspot’s unique measuring solution, directly from the scan, as Mayo clinics rely on botspot technology for their pathology labs. 

Botspot, now a stock company, has to move again – still near the banks of the riverSpree, but now on the other side, in Adlershof, where the Berlin equivalent toSilicon Valley has been established. Still, one thing will not change: the team remains eagerly dedicated to developing the best solution for the demands of every single client. Hybrid scanning, combining visible and IR light; complete  service infrastructures for major product portfolios;  skin scanning in support of dermatologic therapy; the best 3D avatars that can be created without resorting to an extensive studio system – any botspot client can rely on a dynamic team of experts that pays full attention to their individual needs and then gets to working passionately for the joint success.

Photogrammetry is the foundation, the sky the limit: botspot is eagerly awaiting to meet the challenges of the future!