old ship meets new 3d laser scanning technology
a ship has a bad day 200 years ago
preserving the shape of the wreckage
This was no easy job. You can imagine how breakable this ship is that has been sitting dormant in the mud for centuries. They had to carefully take it apart, and piece by piece carry it to a lab to have it scanned. Once they got it there, they used 3D scanning services to make sure every piece was preserved as a digital image. It probably sounds strange that something that stayed intact for so long in the ground should be disassembled. This, though, was the only way that they could really preserve it. It would have been too difficult to do the scanning work at the place they found it. Besides, by disassembling the boat, they were able to do a lot more research on it. For an archeologist this is quite a find. It can really tell them something about the common ship back in that day
A super accurate digital replica
The beauty of 3D laser scanning services in this case is that it can take this discovery and preserve it in digital for so that it can be analyzed and even reproduced in the future. A 3D laser scanner works by using a laser beam reflecting off of the object to record a digital reproduction of the object. What this means is that the whole ship can be reproduced digitally for anyone to take a 3D virtual tour of the boat. That is kind of neat if you think about it. It is one thing to hear about this 200 year old ship, but it would be another to be able to take a 3D virtual walk about and inside the boat. There is also the potential to even use 3D printing to recreate a physical ship is one wanted.
Whoever ditched that boat and left it for someone else to come clean up got their wish. Although it took a couple centuries for someone to find it, someone actually did. They found at just the right period of time, so that 3D scanning services could be there to get it all on file.