The Latest in 3D Laser Scanning Services: Scan The World Partners With Artec 3D To Digitize Historical Artifacts
They’ll Be Stored on Google’s Arts and Culture Center
Artec 3D, a world-renowned developer, manufacturer, and provider of professional 3D laser scanning services (gear and software), announced that it has partnered with Scan the World. They plan to provide digital collections from museums worldwide to the online community, which will be stored on Google Arts and Culture.
Scan the World will provide 3D scanning services that will scan sculptures, artwork, and historical items with an Artec Eva handheld scanner, creating a huge ecosystem of free-to-view, download, print, and share digital cultural heritage via Google’s Art and Culture online community. In addition, communities are encouraged to share their tales and creations to make culture more accessible to the general public.
“We have been made aware of the value of free digital collections in a world interrupted by a worldwide epidemic,” said Elisa D’Antona, assistant manager at Scan the World. She observed that so many museums are eager to tap into 3D scanning and share collections belonging to them through Scan the World and Google Arts & Culture’s platforms.
In 2022, the Scan the World team will digitize a significant collection at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg as one of their first destinations. Artec Eva will provide an optimal 3D laser scanning solution for making this collection accessible to the public. At the same time, Artec Studio 16’s photogrammetry tool will ensure the museum’s highlights are preserved in full, true-to-life color detail.
Scan the World’s Use of 3D Laser Scanning Services
Scan the World, founded in 2014 by Jonathan Beck, is a cultural heritage initiative capturing art from around the world using various 3D scanning techniques. The scans are then digitized and optimized for 3D printing before being distributed to the 3D printing community, educators, and other artists for free.
The project has achieved a number of notable milestones during its history, and it now has a 3D printable collection of over 17,000 things. Although some museums were initially apprehensive of the initiative, Beck has subsequently been accepted into private and public collections as institutions became more sympathetic to the project and acknowledged its significance.
The Victoria & Albert Museum, in particular, was an early supporter of Scan the World, inviting it to participate in its exhibition ‘A World of Fragile Parts’ in 2016, held in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. In addition, scan the World enlisted the support of London-based 3D laser scanning services and printing business, 3DCompare, to help with the project, which was believed to be the first time a national gallery has opted to permanently exhibit 3D prints of this type.
So far, the community-based project has collaborated with over 50 cultural institutions to provide free end-to-end 3D scanning services to make data open, accessible, and optimized for 3D printing available to the general public.