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DotProduct LLC says seed funding to speed up product development, sales growth efforts
Computer chip maker Intel Corporation announced its global investment and M&A arm, Intel Capital, has invested $65 million across 16 technology companies, including DotProduct LLC, a maker of handheld, tablet-based 3D imaging hardware and software selling for less than $5,000.
Houston, Texas-based DotProduct manufacturers the DPI-7 3D structured light scanner, whose main components are an Android tablet, running proprietary software called Phi-3D, and the same calibrated RGB-D imager as the PrimeSense sensor technology behind Microsoft’s Kinect gaming system.
The lightweight, battery-powered device captures real-time, RGB picture data to generate full-color, photorealistic 3D point clouds in seconds, which can then be used in the field or uploaded to the cloud via the tablet’s WiFi.
Commercial applications of the Phi.3D software range from creating 3D construction documentation for oil and gas facilities to documenting crime scenes to imaging movies sets for gaming and entertainment applications, DotProduct said, adding that tablets powered by the software “can replace 3D laser scanning- and photogrammetry-based work processes.”
“3D reconstruction will change the way we capture the world, from objects, people and places,” said Mark Yahiro, managing director of new business for Intel’s Perceptual Computing Group. “DotProduct is on the forefront of the next wave of computing and we are excited to see their solutions come to the market.” 
DotProduct said the undisclosed round of seed funding from Intel Capital will be used to accelerate product development and sales growth. The investment was announced at the 14th annual Intel Capital Global Summit in Taipei, Taiwan.
“Intel Capital’s deep experience and global scale with mobile computing will be invaluable to DotProduct as we develop 3D software solutions for tablet platforms,” said Brian Ahern, CEO of DotProduct.
DotProduct was also co-founded last year by former Google engineer, Rafael Spring, and Mark Klusza, the founder and former owner of BitWyse Solutions, a 3D software firm acquired byTrimble Navigation in 2006. Tom Greaves, the former CyArk executive director, was hired in June as DotProduct’s vice president of marketing and sales.
“Our customers want a streamlined solution to get the 3D data they need on the jobsite on a tablet or ultimately a phone. Our technology is designed to take full advantage of ever increasing compute power on tablet architectures and a raft of new 3D sensor technologies coming on stream with step function improvement in price performance,” said Rafael Spring, CTO and founder.
