Scanner users want answers, not point clouds – Manifold Tech & FARO INSIGHT | 3DISE @ INTERGEO #10

Three guests on one couch: John Chwalibog, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Manifold Tech, Dr. Fan Yang, COO of Manifold Tech, and Tobias Böhret of FARO INSIGHT, who has worked at FARO for more than 20 years and leads product marketing. They came to talk about the partnership between the two companies and the product that came out of it, the Rovi i.1 handheld SLAM scanner. Manifold Tech was founded in 2022 in Hong Kong and comes from robotics. We ask why an established laser scanning company partners instead of spending years on its own hardware, and why FARO picked Manifold. Tobias says this show used to be about accuracy and precision and is now about new customers; John describes a prosumer user who wants answers, not point clouds. Fan explains the Rovi i.1's visual SLAM enhanced by LiDAR, why it keeps working in long featureless tunnels, and why Gaussian splatting does not need 50-megapixel images. Also covered: splats processed in FARO's cloud, the Rovi i.1 bundled into a three-year subscription with cloud and desktop software, and whether the accessory cameras block the LiDAR. Recorded live at INTERGEO 2026 in the 3DISE podcast studio. Chapters: 0:00 Three guests, one couch 0:14 Tobias Böhret: 20 years at FARO 1:05 John Chwalibog and Fan Yang, Manifold Tech 2:17 The FARO and Manifold partnership 3:32 Why partner instead of building hardware? 4:36 From accuracy and precision to new customers 5:43 The prosumer user wants answers 7:14 Robust SLAM from robotics 8:41 Robotics companies want splats, not point clouds 9:48 Will Manifold partner with others? 11:25 Gaussian splats in FARO's cloud 12:36 Navigate the splat, measure the point cloud 13:30 Combining Rovi i.1 data with other FARO scanners 14:18 One subscription for cloud and desktop 15:31 Why FARO chose Manifold 17:04 Chemistry between partners 18:41 Affordability: the Rovi i.1 in the subscription 20:40 Inside the Rovi i.1: cameras, LiDAR, RTK 22:05 Do the accessories block the LiDAR? 23:14 Gaussian splats don't need 50 MP 24:44 Visual SLAM enhanced by LiDAR 26:07 Fusing drone data 28:07 What's next for Manifold 29:15 Wrap-up