International Museum Day Uses 3D Laser Scanning to Create Something Special

On the international museum day, May 18th, a video was released to show a very famous place. Not just famous but historical. They released a video that allows you to see all around the Maiden Tower, but also inside. This video was created using 3D laser scanning and was published by many cultural heritage groups who are partaking in the “World Heritage 3D Scanning” program.

Icherisheher Museum Center went about scanning the old town, making it one of their goals. They started this project by selecting the Maiden Tower. This will be just one of many historical buildings that will be scanned and shared with the world.

This video allows a user to see at a 360-degree angle and a panoramic view. It showed restored objects that can be seen in great detail. This video allows someone to learn more things than the average video. Each level of the tour was scanned, and on the side of the video, you can see the notes in two languages.

Many museums have started scanning their buildings and other historical buildings and introducing them online for virtual tours. 3D laser scanning is one of the best ways to digitally preserve historic buildings. The coolest thing about this tool is that it could actually help restore these buildings as well.

How 3D laser scanning works

This incredible technology uses lasers that go over the object creating digital points that it scans. 3D laser scanning picks up every small detail that anyone might miss. It picks up details like cracks, holes, scratches, shapes, sizes, and widths. If it gets scanned, it will be picked up precisely and accurately.

3D laser scanning was initially created in the 1960s but never gained adoption until the late 1990s. To this day, many museums were incredibly hesitant about using this technology to preserve and create virtual artifacts for viewers. However, many others have decided to use this tool to help rebuild historical sites, and they have also allowed virtual tours using 3D laser scanning. As more museums use this tool, more places around the world will see its benefits.

3D laser scanning allows anyone to take noninvasive images of the artifacts or surrounding places. It allows consumers to walk through the halls of a place they would never get to go without causing any damage or harm to a site. It also allows people to see what could be fixed if it every started crumbling. On top of all of this, it allows a user to become intimate with a setting, and the viewers would not normally be able to do this.

Final thoughts

Most of the world is on lockdown due to the coronavirus, and unfortunately, this is when the international museum day is. However, they have truly found a way to work passed this by using 3D laser scanning to bring us all a little closer together. This tool has helped us saved sites around the world and allowed people from everywhere to walk in their halls. This 3D virtual tour could not have come at a better time.