Scan the World's 3D printable sculptures (Credit: Google Arts and Culture/Scan the World)
Scan the World, a community-led project which has spent the last seven years building a catalogue of 3D printable artefacts, has partnered with Artec 3D to digitise sculptures, artwork, and historical pieces for Google’s Art and Culture online community.
Scan the World will use the 3D scanning specialist’s handheld Artec Eva to capture the objects for free viewing, sharing, downloading and 3D printing via the platform that’s been described as ‘a museum without walls.’ The project aims to deliver an ecosystem of over 20,000 artefacts.
“In a world halted by a global pandemic, we have been made aware of the importance of open digital collections,” said Elisa D'Antona, Scan the World assistant manager. “With many museums now looking to 3D scan and release their collections through Scan the World and Google Arts & Culture's platform, we are looking forward to embracing Artec Studio 16's cutting-edge features to digitise to a level never seen before.”
The first collection will be from the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg in 2022 which will see its library of hundreds of artefacts, spanning 4,000 years of human history, captured in full-colour and made accessible to a global audience.
“Artec 3D has always been committed to keeping our technology at the forefront of the industry and providing applications that can be utilised around the world,” said Artyom Yukhin, Artec 3D president and CEO. “Today, we are delighted to make a bold step forward in building a heritage-focused digital community alongside Scan the World – capturing precious artefacts in high detail and making them accessible to all.”
This is just the latest of countless conversation projects to leverage Artec 3D’s 3D scanning technology. Last year, French filmmaker Ivan Erhel travelled from the South to the North of Iraq in a race to preserve what remains of the history of Mesopotamia, often referred to as the Cradle of Civilization, while marine archaeologist Renee Malliaros and Belgium-based 3D recording specialist Thomas Van Damme used the Artec Eva to a conserve what might be the oldest known colonial Australian-built boat to be excavated.
