3D digital cultural heritage begins its life with 3D digitisation as part of a complete 3D recording approach and completes with the 3D applications and reproduction. 3D physical reproduction has gained momentum in the recent years as 3D printing technologies are becoming more and more accessible, mainly due to the reduction of cost both in hardware and in consumables used for printing.
Recently our lab acquired one such 3D printing system, the CubeX by 3D Systems. With this system our lab has now completed the puzzle of 3D digital cultural heritage, covering all aspects involved. With an Arius 3D laser scanning system, a customised structured light scanner based on the David 3D scanning system, a shape from silhouette scanning system and a Structure-From-Motion-Dense Multi-View 3D Reconstruction method with a turntable, along with an Optech Ilris 3D time-of-flight laser scanning system for large structures and open spaces, we are able to cover a diversity of 3D digitisation projects. With a long experience in data structures, cultural documentation and work for Europeana we are able to support any cultural documentation project. Our even longer experience in multimedia applications for cultural heritage in many forms and platforms covers numerous possibilities for digital delivery, scientific study, education and entertainment. Now with the addition of the CubeX 3D printing system we are able to cover the aspect of physical reproduction.
Our newly acquired CubeX system characteristics in brief:
Z axis resolution:
0.100mm (0.004” / 100 microns)
X-Y resolution:
+/- 1% of object dimension or +/- 0.2mm (0.008” / 200 microns) whichever is greater
Maximum build size:
275mm (w) x 265mm (l) x 240mm (h) or 10.75” x 10.75” x 9.5”
Here are a few draft 3D printed models from our previous work on monument digitisation:
