Hidden in amongst the armies of 3D scanners in the South Hall of CES is the Matterform: a crowdfunded, $579 desktop 3D scanner that’s also its own carrying case. The device operates on similar principals as other devices in the space, namely MakerBot’s Digitizer. There are a couple of clear differences between the two offerings, right off the bat; first and foremost the price, with Matterform’s offering coming in at a fraction of MakerBot’s scanner.

The Matterform scanner was conceived by friends Drew Cox and Adam Brandejs. Its development was funded by an Indiegogo campaign run last year, that raised almost US$500,000 – well over its target of $81,000. The device will retail at $579, making it cheaper than many alternatives that are on the market. “We thought it would be popular with the hacker/maker crowd,” says Brandejs, “but the applications are much broader than that. We’ve had interest from designers, artists, archeologists, dentists and even parents who want to scan their kids’ artwork.”