DIGITALLY CAPTURING REALITY
From a to the city street, laser scanning can capture the objects and spaces we inhabit and convert them into a three-dimensional digital model. We can scan a range of small or large-scale 3D objects in joint facilities and equipment shared with the SimLab in the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning. Three-dimensional geometry is captured in terms of millions of points that outline the scanned object. These points are converted into polygons comprising a mesh that then can be used in the resulting animation workflow.
We have worked to simulate the original settings of several sculptures in the collection of the Ball State University Museum of Art using the ZCorp 3D laser scanner and employing archival methods. This project provided a means to not only digitally archive select sculptures, but to place them in an live three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment that
immerses viewers in a simulation of the works in their original context.
This significance of this project was in addressing a problem in museum interpretation, in that typically pre-modern sculpture was originally designed to be an element of a large-scale architectural, public or natural setting. We have developed a workflow that is now also a service that can be provided to external clients in the sciences, industry and the arts - employing emerging digital tools to illuminate a viewer’s understanding of context. We also use FARO scanning technology to capture large interior or exterior spaces in the form of a set of point clouds.
Both FARO and Z Corporation’s scanning technologies are used in applications such as reverse engineering, arts and entertainment, accident reconstruction, forensic science, historic preservation, cultural heritage, and virtual simulation.
Discussing Archival Approaches to the Laser Scanning of Works of Art. Amida Buddha.
Final Amida Buddha in Blue Mars
3D Laser Scanning
Art Museum and Cultural Heritage virtual learning and interpretation solutions.