The software generates 3D data in real time and shows them on the computer screen while the laser line is swept over the object by hand (like a virtual brush).

The resulting 3D mesh can be exported into well-known file formats and can thus be imported and processed in most 3D applications.

The software is also able to grab the texture and "stitch together" scans made from different viewing directions.

An initial calibration is made to determine the lens parameters and location of the camera relative to the background boards, which are two vertical planes positioned at 90 degrees to one another behind the object to be scanned.

Development of DAVID Laserscanner started in September 2006 by German computer scientists Dr. Simon Winkelbach and Sven Molkenstruck, research associates of the Institute for Robotics and Process Control of the TU Braunschweig.