You don't need a $25,000, industrial-grade laser scanner to get jiggy in three dimensions. Two German scientists have developed a system called DAVID that runs off a handheld line-laser, a webcam, and some free software.

Simply position the object you wish to scan against a background containing calibration marks and sweep the laser across its surface like a paintbrush. (Remember the laser-scanner that examined Ripley's ship at the beginning of Aliens?)