ArtBytes 2014

Last week we had the opportunity to compete in the second ArtBytes Hackathon, hosted by the Walters Art Museum.

For those unfamiliar, a hackathon is usually a multi-day event that brings together skilled technical workers (such as software programmers, graphic and interface designers, and engineers) to create a project based on a theme. In the case of ArtBytes II the task was to create something inspired by or directly related to the museum's collection. At the start of the hackathon several projects will generally be proposed and then the workers will split into teams to complete their project by the event's end.

Direct Dimensions modeler Michelle Craft evaluates the Terra Cotta Adam and Eve for scanning

Several Direct Dimensions employees decided to load up our 3D scanners and see how we could be involved. We ultimately ended up working on two projects, George Crowdsourcington and our own Team Scantasia.

For our own project, Team Scantasia, we decided to 3D scan and model as many pieces from the museum's collection as we could. We scanned ancient Egyptian statuary, a terra cotta Adam and Eve and even a suit of armor. These 3D models will ultimately be used to create 3D content for the Walters' website and can already be viewed on our sketchfab site.

 

For George Crowdsourcington we 3D scanned a sculpture of George Washington that is being temporarily housed by the Walters. The sculpture was then modeled and sectioned into a 110 pieces. These 110 sections are available to be downloaded on a corresponding website. The end goal is to have members of the maker community each download and print a piece on their personal 3D printers and then send them to a central location where a full sized, crowd-sourced replica will be assembled.