Woolly Mammoth skeleton at Smithsonian Institution © akseabird
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Why go to a museum when you can make copies of pieces of its collection at home? Well, assuming that you have a 3D printer in your home. Anyway, the day when 3D printers are commonplace isn’t far off, and the day when museums make their artifacts printable has arrived.
The Smithsonian Institution is utilizing various imaging techniques to scan its vast collections in three dimensions and have now made a selection of items, including the Cosmic Buddha and Amelia Earhart’s flight suit, available for 3D printing and other multidimensional applications.
They don’t seem to be worried about whether you’ll still come to the museum or not, and this technological enhancement is unlikely to deter visitors, but may help those who would otherwise be unable to see the original artifacts first hand. A mere 1% of the Smithsonian’s collection of material is on display at any given time.
Really, isn’t the whole reason you buy a 3D printer is so that you can print your own Wooly Mammoth? Novelty aside, 3D rendering technology is revolutionizing how scientists, researchers, educators, and the general public can interact with artifacts and even entire archaeological sites.
Find out more about this from Forbes.