14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier today, we told you a UK-based company wants to 3D print all the cultural landmarks around the world, in order to give those who feel they are missing out on travel the illusion they are not.
But the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History has an even more daring project in mind. With the help of 3D printing they want the past to become alive into the present.
So the Peabody Museum is working hand in hand with the Yale Digital Media Center for Arts to recreate three-dimensional parts that will be used in dioramas depicting wildlife in their natural habitat. And they will be employing 3D printing to do that.
The traditional technique used in the creation of wildlife dioramas employs basic crepe paper that has been printed and dipped in wax. From there, the leaves are hand-painted and beautified. But this way of doing things takes a lot of effort, time and determination.
With the introduction of 3D printing, this laborious process is seeing a much-needed simplification. To continue the example, the 3D-printed pieces were created using clear resin.
Once it comes out of the printer, the leaf will have a 2D image of leaf vacuum onto it, thus making it look quite realistic. The Peabody Museum of Natural History is barely starting out with the project, but the end results could be quite spectacular.
