Project Snapshot - 3D Skull

At Direct Dimensions we recently 3D laser scanned this skull. The final digital model can be used for replication, visualization and even analysis.

ShapeShot at GBTC TechNite tonight!

Recently at Direct Dimensions, we've been gearing up to show off our new ShapeShotTM concept for GBTC Technite 2010 and the Hottest Tech in Town competition.



Technite is a wonderful annual event held by the Greater Baltimore Technology Council that highlights all of the amazing work tech companies are doing in Baltimore.

This year they are also holding the "Hottest Tech in Town" competition where fifteen technology start-up finalists were chosen from an applicant pool of over forty-five applicants. The ultimate winner will be chosen by a combination of internet voting and a judges panel.

Direct Dimensions, showcasing our ShapeShotTM Technology, is excited to be one of the finalists. The event is tonight and voting continues until 6:30pm. Vote for Direct Dimensions HERE.

If you are attending TechNite this evening, make sure and stop by and get your ShapeShot. We are also launching a new app for Android so you can have your ShapeShot in your hand within 2 minutes!

Check out this video, made by Direct Dimensions Engineer Greg Chaprnka, showing the incredibly realistic and incredibly fast ShapeShot process.

ShapeShot at Tech Crawl East

Are you intrigued by the idea of seeing a virtual 3D copy of yourself? If so, then you should definitely stop by Tech Crawl East in Baltimore tonight. The event is being held this evening from 5-9 pm on the first floor of the new Morgan Stanley Building in Fells Point.

Direct Dimensions will be presenting our ShapeShot concept in the 60 second pitch format, as well as taking ShapeShots (a 3D snapshot) of the attendees. Make sure to stop by our booth and say hello.

Vote for Direct Dimensions as The Hottest Tech in Town

GBTC (The Greater Baltimore Technology Council) is holding a "Hottest Tech in Town" competition as part of their 21st annual TechNite event. Direct Dimensions, showcasing our ShapeShotTM service, is one of the finalists and we would appreciate it if you took the time to vote for us!

Click here to read more about ShapeShot!

Click here to vote for Direct Dimensions as the Hottest Tech in Baltimore!

15 Great Projects Over the Past 15 Years

Over the past 15 years we've worked on many truly incredible projects. From art and architecture to aerospace and automotive, and these are just the A's. Below are 15 of our favorites, one from each year, and it wasn't easy to choose.

1995: Olympic Sculpture Brought to Life - One of our first 3D sculpture projects way back in our founding year, was to digitize a 4-foot model of a sculpture to help fabricate a monumental sized public art piece for the 1996 Olympics Games in Atlanta. Our 3D data was used for structural analysis.

1996: Power Generation Components - We reverse engineered our first compressor, impeller, turbine blade, and diaphragm way back in 1996 for upgrading power plants. Back then we used contact digitizers before the laser scanners of today existed.

1997: Recreating Unique Automobiles – One of our earliest historic automotive projects was digitizing a one-of-a-kind 1951 Cunningham roadster, considered the first modern American sports car. Our data was used to create reproductions.

1998: Digitizing the Wright Propellers - To recreate the Wright Bro.’s first flight from 1903 in honor of the 2003 centennial, an airplane reproduction company asked us to reverse engineer original propellers from several historic Wright planes. We collaborated with the US Army in Edgewood.

1999: 3D Digital Facial Prosthetics – Back in 1999 we scanned our first ear to make a medical prosthesis. We scanned a plaster cast of an ear and mirrored it to create a digital version of the missing opposite ear. This digital file was also used to make an RP for a surgical guide.

2000: Aircraft OML Scanning for Analysis – Early in the new decade we scanned our first of many "outside mold line" aircraft exteriors for CFD analysis. Back then we used a laser tracker, today we use the amazing Surphaser.

2001: Lincoln Memorial Scan - Just weeks after 9/11, the U.S. Gov't called with a very special request. They wanted to see how 3D scanning could digitally preserve monuments and artifacts in case of catastrophe. We demonstrated this with Abe at the Lincoln Memorial.

2002: Monumental Church 'Monument' - We traveled to Richmond, VA to 3D laser scan a decaying marble monument from 1811. Our completely restored digital model enabled the rebuilding of a new monument exactly as it was designed originally.

2003: Ray Lewis Marble Bust – We scanned Baltimore Raven's player Ray Lewis and made a beautiful life-like marble bust which was auctioned off for his charity. Since then we've done Amelia, Kelly Ripa, and Natalie Portman. Oh boy!

2004: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – We laser scanned and digitally restored the Tomb of the Unknowns. Our 3D digital model may be used one day to fabricate a replacement for the cracked monument.

2005: Scanning the Liberty Bell - One of our most significant efforts ever has been our work with the Liberty Bell. We have scanned it three times over 6 years with increasingly better technology. Today we have a fingerprint level digital model of this famous icon.

2006: 3D Animated Political Cartoons – We have a lot of fun working with renowned political cartoonist - Kal. We scanned his exaggerated clay sculptures, including George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama so he could make 3D animated political cartoons.

2007: 3D Scanning Helps U.S. Solider – For years we've worked with Johns Hopkins to develop radical new methods for 3D digital prosthetics. In 2007 we helped create a new nose for a soldier wounded in Iraq. This was truly one of our most rewarding projects and it was later featured on CNN.

2008: Laser Scanning Buildings for BIM – As early adopters of long range scanning for historic preservation as well as ships and airplanes, its logical to also scan and model large building structures. Often these models feed into BIM for downstream re-design and analysis.

2009: Scanning Aircraft with the Surphaser – We are constantly testing new 3D products from all over the world. This year we implemented the Surphaser as a fantastic new scanning tool for a wide range of projects - from cars to airplanes and everything in between!

2010: Matisse Sculpture 3D Analysis - A major art exhibition opened at MoMA in New York featuring extensive technical analysis of Matisse's "Back" sculptures. Our team played a huge role with our various 3D technologies for scanning, modeling, and analyzing the pieces for this important and unique exhibit.

Our team at Direct Dimensions, combined with our tools, history, experience, and skills, is quite unique in the United States and perhaps the entire world. We simply don't know of another organization with the variety of tools and talent that we've accumulated over the past 15 years. The above glimpse into 15 projects over our first 15 years amazes us and should amaze you too. It is very exciting to look back but even more exciting to think about what the next 15 years will bring.

Thanks for reading thru this and we welcome your feedback and reposts to your friends about this amazing list.

From your 3D friends at Direct Dimensions.

Case Study: Using 3D Imaging to Create High-Res Prosthetic Hand

Direct Dimensions has long been interested in applying our 3D laser scanning technology to aid in the field of “anaplastology,” the medical field of making cosmetic prosthesis which improve the quality of life for those who need them. We have worked extensively with some of the profession's most talented practitioners, including a long-standing partnership with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Department of “Art as Applied to Medicine.”

Some previous projects have included working with the team at Hopkins to help rebuild the nose of U.S. Army Senior Airman Michael Fletcher and working on many prosthetic ear projects. We consider the creation of prosthetics some of the most rewarding work we are privileged to do so we were very honored when Dr. Robert A. Erb, Ph.D, noted anaplastologist and former president of the American Anaplastology Association (AAA) contacted us to assist on a particularly challenging project.

Dr. Erb had a patient who had lost a hand in a tragic accident. The goal was to create a new life-like hand including the fine details of skin texture. The doctor was also interested in how 3D laser scanning might help with his methods. Through a recommendation from a colleague he found that Direct Dimensions and our Digital Modeling team was excited to take on the project.

DDI’s project manager Harry Abramson has worked on many similar replication projects and he noted the significance of this opportunity. “We were excited because it set a new benchmark for us to represent what could be done in anaplastology and realistic re-creation utilizing 3D scanning technologies. Our usual work generally does not need to be as detailed, but this time it was about creating the most realistic prosthetic possible.”

Dr. Erb came to Direct Dimensions’ lab with a plaster casting he had taken of his patient’s intact hand. We scanned this casting two different ways to ensure the highest quality of data possible: first with a laser line scanner mounted on a Faro Arm and second with a laser line scanner mounted on a motorized precision coordinate measuring machine, or CMM. This particular CMM system was integrated by our own DDI engineers for in-house projects requiring very high resolutions and can even capture fingerprints in 3D.



The resulting data from the scans was incredibly detailed, containing millions of 3D polygons. During the modeling process, utilizing PolyWorks software, the model was also flipped to create a mirror of the plaster casting and a faithful re-creation of the clients lost hand.



The high resolution 3D digital model was then provided to a rapid prototyping service bureau to create a physical hand using an Objet Eden printer - one of the highest resolution 3D printers currently available. The material selected was “Vero Blue,” a rapid prototype material noted for both its strength and its exceptional ability to retain fine detail.



The prototype prosthetic hand which we delivered to Dr. Erb was so lifelike that you could even see pores and hair follicles. Using the prototype hand, Dr. Erb created a finalized prosthetic in silicone with no loss of detail - truly an exceptional achievement, and one aided by the cutting-edge 3D technologies at Direct Dimensions.