Shape Extraction, not to be confused with “Shape Shifting” which is a completely different thing, but perhaps Autodesk Labs is also working on that for the future. There is a new Autodesk Labs Technology Preview released just one week after the mind blowing project Photofly was released where you could use photographs to generate a point cloud. This weeks Autodesk Labs release is the Point Cloud Shape Extraction for AutoCAD Plug-in for AutoCAD 2011. The Point Cloud Shape Extraction Plug-in is a point cloud shape extraction solution which allows you to import, load, and extract shape and geometry information from point cloud data in AutoCAD 2011 and a few other AutoCAD 2011 based products. This plug-in allows you to take a point cloud and extract primitive geometry like flat planes, cylinders,l and more from the point clouds points. You can also generate cross section through the point cloud and have the result in splines or plines and then use those to create derivative geometry such as a 2D drawing or perhaps a 3D model. Read more →