Visions Of Zeus At Olympia ... the 3D Printed Version On Right |
An ancient Greek statue of Zeus at Olympia, that was once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, has been recreated using 3D printing. The original was made of precious woods, ivory and gold, but was lost in the 5th Century AD in a fire at the Palace of Lausus in Constantinople.
Whether it would have survived the harder line Christianity (or the Emperors need for cash) of the later centuries seems unlikely, but it has now been recreated using 3D printing technology, but at the reduced height of 1.8 meters (the original was 13m tall) ... The reconstruction was made using information from the ancient descriptions, and illustrations recorded on contemporary coins.
Personally I think its a soulless looking recreation, compared to some of the other visualisations of the lost original, but its early days with the technology.
However its obvious that 3D printing and other technologies such as photogrammetry are going to become increasingly important to recover antiquities, especially as the new barbarians rampage over ancient civilisation sites .... We have to use every trick we can to tackle the spread of the backward ideology across the globe, and this is all part of that battle.
This battle of civilisation against seventh century barbarism, is aided by the fact that new technologies are being developed that allow photographs to be taken, in which still objects can then be manipulated to mimic movements by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
It does look a bit like Liam Neeson I guess...
ReplyDeleteThat's a great link about bringing photos to life at MIT.
Just looked like plastic to me ....
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