## 3 Low-Cost Digitisation for VR E-Commerce
### Software Tools Selection Based on Scanning Techniques  
In Section 2, state-of-the-art 3D scanning techniques were introduced, including photogrammetry, LiDAR mapping and NeRF. In the current section, we will focus on choosing low-cost tools and technologies that support these techniques and the needs of small businesses. We would like to point out that all the selected software tools have a user interface very similar to that of the camera application integrated with the mobile phone. In addition, they usually include tooltips and visual guides to perform scans in video mode. This makes the learning curve very easy for people who are not experts in the use of scanning technologies [28], which is an incentive to suggest the use of these applications as opposed to a 3D scanner. LiDAR sensors were first integrated in smartphones only in iPhone and iPad devices from the 4 th generation (2020). Several authors have conducted studies with these sensors that show good results in terms of accuracy of the generated models. For example, ref. [29] stated that the accuracy is of \(\pm\)1 cm for small objects with side length greater than 10 cm, with the limit of detection for objects being around 5 cm. This suggests that LiDAR sensors might be more accurate and preferable to use for large objects. Even though these devices are considerably cheaper compared with professional 3D scanners, they might not be affordable for every small business owner. Therefore, it is necessary to explore scanning tools available in Android-based devices, as this operating system for mobile devices has 71.44% market share globally ([[https://www.statista.com/statistics/272698](https://www.statista.com/statistics/272698)]([https://www.statista.com/statistics/272698](https://www.statista.com/statistics/272698)) /global-market-share-held-by-mobile-operating-systems-since-2009/ accessed on 7 July 2024) and is the operating system installed in the majority of mobile devices. Therefore, we searched for scanning applications available in either Android or iOS to select a set of tools that allow us to study the three technologies mentioned above. Even though some applications found had both Android and iOS versions, the features offered differed in some cases. Therefore, we proceeded to explore scanning applications from various sources, including the literature, to identify the most used ones by researchers. Regarding the current state of photogrammetry applications, the image acquisition phase of such a process is easily done by the cameras of current mobile devices [30]. These cameras have superior specifications to those on previous years' mobile phones, especially when they are high-end devices, allowing one to obtain high-quality images from which to generate the 3D models. In addition, the rest of the phases (image processing, point cloud generation, mesh generation and post processing) are done by more powerful processors in current mobile phone devices or even by a cloud-based computing process. Therefore, we explored free or low-cost applications available for Android devices. Moreover, we considered user's ratings and reviews as well as the published results made with such applications in order to decide whether to consider them or not. Since all of them are based on the photogrammetry technique, we also considered additional features made public by the developers of such applications, such as editing tools for the obtained model inside the application, estimated time for generating the model, subscription prices, exporting formats or the guides offered for scanning. With respect to NeRF, we believe that this novel technique can offer high-quality results, even when compared with professional scanners. For instance, the authors of [31] showed encouraging results, where, compared with Agisoft Metashape software 2.1.0, the accuracy comparisons performed over different datasets gave differences of less than 1 cm, averaging around 0.5 cm.