Scanning system and display for aligning 3D images with each other and/or for detecting and quantifying similarities or differences between scanned images

The subject invention is a scanning system and display and more particularly a scanning system and display for detecting and quantifying similarities or differences between stored data and data collected from a scan. The system operates to perform surface scans and/or deep scans or a combination thereof and utilizes a method or process that decreases the time required for calculating a pose estimate thus increasing its performance thereby making it more practical for many applications that require real-time operations. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the system comprises one or more sensing components for scanning and measuring various surface or internal features of an object and determines differences between data obtained from two or more scans. Preferably the system can operate to scan numerous objects including mechanical objects, biological objects or medical conditions, artifacts, geographical objects, agricultural objects, or used in conjunction with robotic manufacturing systems, robotic surgical systems, aircraft systems, and marine applications.