Preserving Cultural Heritage With 3D Technologies

As defined by UNESCO, cultural heritage encompasses artifacts, monuments, sites and museums that hold significant value, whether symbolic, artistic, aesthetic or social. These can be thought of as the objects and areas that help define who we are as a culture or society. And it is for that reason that it is so important to preserve. However, inclement weather, vandalism and just the passage of time all can make preserving cultural heritage difficult. Luckily, there may be a solution, thanks to 3D technologies. Indeed, 3D scanning and 3D printing have long been used in this manner, especially thanks to projects like Scan the World and Twin It!, both of which aim to capture important heritage in order to have a common data space for cultural heritage. That’s why, in the following listing, we decided to show how 3D technologies are being used to help not just save cultural heritage but also make it accessible to a wider audience with some of the most interesting applications from around the world.

Easter Island Heads

The Moai statues on Rapa Nui, more colloquially referred to as the Easter Island heads, have always captured the imagination of the world, leading them to star in movies, TV shows and more. However, back in October 2022, a catastrophe occurred. A fire damaged many of the statues over an affected area of 100 hectares, with locals considering it irreparable damage to the archeological site. Enter Scan the World. The project from MyMiniFactory is the largest ecosystem to share digital, 3D scanned cultural artifacts and after this incident, Scan the World called for users to redouble efforts to scan and 3D print objects in order to preserve global heritage. They also shared files, which would allow people to print their own. An excellent way to turn tragedy into hope.

A digitalized representation (left) and how it would look printed (right) of a Moai statue (image credits: Scan the World)