Incredible New 2D to 3D Software - Unbelievable

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and the University of California have written a software which can only be described as remarkable. The software, which is available for free, along with its source code, allows for the 3D manipulation of objects within a 2D photo. Basically it turns a 2D object into a 3D object by comparing it to and merging it with a vast library of stock photos and 3D models. Check out the gif below for an example of just how incredible this software really is. Several videos and further details can be found here: http://3dprint.com/11299/3d-2d-photo-software/
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/cab-1.gif

Could this have major uses within the 3D modeling and printing space? Certainly seems like it to me...

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Originally Posted by Brian_Krassenstein

... Basically it turns a 2D object into a 3D object by comparing it to and merging it with a vast library of stock photos and 3D models.
Could this have major uses within the 3D modeling and printing space? Certainly seems like it to me...

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Brian, my read of the paper is not quite the same as yours. This research does not appear to me to utilize methods to "turn a 2d object into a 3d object". Instead, it proposes a method to insert stock 3d data, like a chair, plane, taxi etc and place it into a 2d scene. From the paper : "we constrain the recreation of the scene’s 3D geometry, illumination, and appearance from the 2D photograph using a publicly available 3D model of the manipulated object as a proxy."
The 3d object is inserted accurately into the 2d scene but the user can still manipulate the 3d object.

I think it will have major uses in Advertising, youtube, blogging, visualization and such but does not create new 3d printable content.

Charles