3D Technology in the Restoration of History

There are numerous initiatives today showing how 3D printing helps art and history. This can be through creating complex shapes and new works, educating a wider audience, or preserving artefacts. By recreating a ruined monument for example, we preserve its heritage and there is a concrete interaction with the past that would not have been previously possible.

This is further expanded upon by several professors and doctors at the Harvard Semitic Musuem. They state that “modern digital 3D visualisation makes possible the full-scale virtual reconstruction of ancient architectural remains which survive today only as damaged or partially preserved ruins. Using digital animation, adding color and lighting effects, it is possible to show how these sites and monuments changed through time, from their original construction and ancient use to their eventual abandonment and destruction.”

A trend supported by a report published in 2014 by a team of Austrian researchers entitled “3D Printing for Cultural Heritage” shows how 3D technologies are key to integrating a new sensory dimension into museums.