point cloud

A point cloud image of a torus

Geo-referenced point cloud of Red Rocks, Colorado (by DroneMapper)

A point cloud is a set of data points in space. Point clouds are generally produced by 3D scanners or by photogrammetry software, which measure many points on the external surfaces of objects around them. As the output of 3D scanning processes, point clouds are used for many purposes, including to create 3D CAD models for manufactured parts, for metrology and quality inspection, and for a multitude of visualization, animation, rendering and mass customization applications.