title: State-of-The-Art and Applications of 3D Imaging Sensors in Industry, Cultural Heritage, Medicine, and Criminal Investigation.
abstract: 3D imaging sensors for the acquisition of three dimensional (3D) shapes have created, in recent years, a considerable degree of interest for a number of applications. The miniaturization and integration of the optical and electronic components used to build them have played a crucial role in the achievement of compactness, robustness and flexibility of the sensors. Today, several 3D sensors are available on the market, even in combination with other sensors in a "sensor fusion" approach. An importance equal to that of physical miniaturization has the portability of the measurements, via suitable interfaces, into software environments designed for their elaboration, e.g., CAD-CAM systems, virtual renders, and rapid prototyping tools. In this paper, following an overview of the state-of-art of 3D imaging sensors, a number of significant examples of their use are presented, with particular reference to industry, heritage, medicine, and criminal investigation applications.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Optoelectronics, University of Brescia / via Branze 38, Brescia I-25123, Italy; E-Mails:  marco.trebeschi@ing.unibs.it ;  franco.docchio@ing.unibs.it.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sansoni
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trebeschi
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Docchio