Historic Saigon Opera House Uses 3D Laser Scanning Services
They're Creating 3D Models
3D laser scanning services are being used in Vietnam to update 150 historic buildings. One of those buildings is the Saigon Opera House, built in 1897 by a French architect. This historic building is also known as the Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City and deserves to be treasured. The government decided that they could allow a group of researchers to digitally preserve the theater if future repairs need to be made.
The Department of Culture and Sports is responsible for creating accurate 3D models of the Opera House. This 3D representation will allow government officials to see what the historic house looks like now and see what breaks or needs to be maintained in the future. Using technology to preserve places is one of the best things when remodeling, maintaining, or renovating a historic building.
This house was chosen because it has been part of the Vietnamese culture for over 100 years, and it is still an essential part of the culture today. For this project, they chose to use the Trimble X7 3D laser scanning device because it will help map the entire building out accurately with precision. It will combine point clouds with the point clouds from the images being captured.
How the process works
This building in Vietnam is larger than others and hard to reach places. While one person can walk around very carefully, collecting all of the information that is within reach. All the user needs to do is point the 3D laser scanning device in the right direction while it is on and the process starts.
For hard-to-reach places like the roof or sides of the building, the 3D laser scanning device can be attached to a drone. This can be controlled from an external box that maneuvers the drone and directs it on where to go.
The research team can then take the information and plug it into a CAD or computer-aided design program to overlap the information. Pictures can be merged with the data points and create an accurate 3D image. Once the data is in the system completely, it can be edited to make a full picture.
They can use this information to create virtual reality for other projects. They can take the information and plug it into a giant printer that can be a 3D physical model that is an exact copy but smaller. If the research team needs it, they can send the information across the world to someone else as an electronic file.
Final thoughts
3D laser scanning services are one of the best tools to use for historical research. It preserves the building entirely and doesn’t bring any harm to the physical structure. The equipment needed for this project is relatively budget-friendly, considering all of the amazing advantages it brings the teams. This project is only one of many and will not be last. There are so many wonderful ways to use 3D laser scanning services, and this is only the beginning.