Scanning multiple objects at once

Photo: Blink Technologies

In my last few posts I've been writing about the finalists in the Engadget Insert Coin Competition. In this post I'll look at BlinkScan.

This innovation is a scanner that copies multiple objects or images at one time, and produces separate images for each, automatically cropping out the background.

Blink Technologies website:  http://blinkscan.com/

On the website of Blink Technologies, which created BlinkScan, there is information about the innovation. Although there's not much text, the accompanying video can be very useful in the classroom because it is short (1:22) and the narrator speaks slowly and clearly. The video shows a scanning demonstration in which 47 coins are placed on the scanner, and each one is made into a separate file image with the background cropped out.

At the time of this post, the product is not yet commercially available, but is expected to cost about $1000 for the commercial market it is aimed at. An article about the innovation on the Engadget website says that the businesses interested in BlinkScan include "archivists and curators of museums, as the scanner's ability to scan multiple documents and objects at once while producing separate, high-quality files for each is a huge timesaver. Graphic artists, coin merchants and stamp collectors are also interested in the device for similar reasons."

Engadget website:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/12/engadget-show-47/

This link also has a video (11:27) of highlights of the event.

Both the Engadget article and the video on the Blink technologies website provide useful material for a short, focused process description, either spoken or written, for students to use as a model.