:niggy: on Nostr: important question. any scientific oomfies here know what a "profilometer" is used ...

important question. any scientific oomfies here know what a "profilometer" is used for?
I can see they're very expensive and and read the wikipedia article for what they do, but what are they actually used for in the real world?
like if there was a secured cleanroom lab in a university with one of these, what could it be used for? some type of student work? research? manufacturing? how could their operations be affected if this "profilometer" were to break?
thank you oomfies