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The traditional way to measure a room: show up with a tape measure, a clipboard, and ideally someone to hold the other end. Write everything down. Hope you didn't miss anything. Drive back if you did.
The Manifold way: walk the room for 60 seconds with your iPhone. Pull any measurement you need from your desk, any time, without going back.
This is the video-to-measurement workflow, and it's one of the most underappreciated things a contractor with an iPhone Pro can do.
When you open Orbit Measure in the Manifold app and walk a room, your iPhone Pro's LiDAR sensor is firing thousands of laser pulses per second and recording the 3D position of every surface it hits. It's essentially scanning the room as you walk, building a complete 3D point cloud in real time.
The result isn't a video in the traditional sense — it's a spatial recording. When you upload it, Manifold processes the point cloud data into three deliverables:
The whole capture takes about 60–90 seconds per room. Processing time varies depending on server load — you'll get a notification when your scan is ready. After that, every dimension in the room is queryable forever.
1. Open Manifold and start a new scan. In your project, tap + and select Orbit Measure. Name the scan (e.g. "Living Room — Pre-Demo").
2. Walk the room slowly and completely. Hold your phone at chest height. Move around the perimeter. Point at all four walls, the ceiling, and the floor. The app shows real-time coverage — green means captured. Give windows, doorways, and alcoves extra attention.
3. Upload when you have signal. The capture itself works offline. When you reconnect, upload the scan. Processing starts automatically.
4. Open the processed scan. You'll see the 3D model and the auto-generated floor plan. All primary dimensions are labelled automatically.
5. Use the measurement tool for anything else. Tap the ruler icon, then tap two points in the 3D model. Manifold calculates the distance instantly. You can measure wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, window widths, anything.
6. Share with whoever needs it. Tap Share to generate a link. Your client, engineer, or sub opens it in any browser and can take their own measurements. No account needed.
A tape measure tells you the dimensions you thought to measure. A Manifold scan tells you every dimension in the room, including the ones you didn't know you'd need.
Three weeks after the scan, your material supplier asks for the exact rough opening width of the window. You open Manifold. 30 seconds later, you have it. Without the scan, you're scheduling a return visit.
For renovation contractors, this changes how estimates work. Scan every room during the initial site visit. Price the job from your desk. Pull any dimension you need during procurement. Never drive back for a forgotten measurement.
Accurate to approximately half an inch on most flat interior surfaces. Sufficient for renovation planning, material ordering, client documentation, and sub coordination. Not intended for survey-grade precision or structural engineering work.
Orbit Measure — full feature overview →
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