Scan the World and Artec 3D Partner to Digitize Art Collections

Since 2014, the community project Scan the World has been on a mission to make 3D printable art available to people worldwide. Hosted on the Google Arts & Culture platform, it works to provide access to artifacts from around the world, making culture more accessible. Recently, Scan the World signed a partnership with 3D scanner and software manufacturer, Artec 3D. The project will now use the Artec Eva handheld scanner to more easily and quickly scan sculptures, paintings and other key artworks that are part of the world’s heritage. They will start with a collection from the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Hamburg, Germany.

Access to culture and historical heritage is unfortunately not a reality for everyone and many are deprived of this experience. 3D technologies can alleviate this problem in some cases by digitizing works of art. Thus, culture no longer has borders and anyone can have access to paintings, sculptures and other artifacts no matter where you are in the World. This was particularly crucial during the pandemic as many were not able to visit museums even in their own countries, let alone travel. Indeed, Elisa D’Antona, deputy director of Scan the World, reflected, “In a world halted by a global pandemic, we have been made aware of the importance of open digital collections.”

Scan the World’s goal is to provide access to online art collections (photo credits: Jed Niezgoda / jedniezgoda.com)

That’s the promise of Scan the World: to open up culture by offering open-source digital collections. By partnering with Artec 3D, the project is taking a step forward as it will be able to more easily scan all kinds of art objects. It will also rely on Artec Studio 16 software, which allows for very realistic colors with very fine details. Jonathan Beck, founder and director of Scan the World, added, “Scan the World is thrilled to embark on this partnership with Artec 3D to share 3D printable heritage with the world. By combining Scan the World’s strong community, storytelling, and object archival with Artec 3D’s industry-leading hardware, this is a very exciting time for the future of high-quality 3D scanned artifacts.”