Smithsonian X 3D

Smithsonian X 3D
Name	Smithsonian X 3D
Established	2013
Location	Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Type	Digitization initiative

Smithsonian X 3D is a Smithsonian initiative to create three-dimensional digital models of objects across the Smithsonian Institution's museums, centers, and research facilities. The project aimed to combine expertise from the National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American History, National Portrait Gallery, and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden with partners such as the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Cultural Heritage Imaging, and 3D Systems to expand access to cultural heritage. The initiative engaged curators, conservators, and technologists to produce 3D assets for research, exhibition, and education across platforms like the Google Cultural Institute and the Smithsonian Open Access program.

Overview

Smithsonian X 3D sought to document artifacts ranging from aircraft like the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and spacecraft like the Apollo 11 command module to paleontological specimens such as the Tyrannosaurus rex and ethnographic objects from the National Museum of the American Indian. The program emphasized cross-institutional coordination among the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, National Postal Museum, and Anacostia Community Museum. Outputs included photogrammetry models, laser scans, CT datasets, and interactive web viewers intended for reuse under the Smithsonian Open Access licensing framework in collaboration with initiatives like the Digital Public Library of America, Europeana, and the Library of Congress digital collections.

History and Development

Launched publicly following piloting at the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of Natural History, the initiative built on digitization precedents set by projects at the British Museum, Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Early phases involved partnerships with academic and commercial teams at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Smith College to refine workflows for photogrammetry and CT scanning of objects such as the Wright Flyer replica, H.M.S. Victory models, and Hope Diamond mounts. Funding and oversight intersected with policy discussions at the National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (Smithsonian), aligning with broader open-access trends advocated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Collections and Digitization Techniques

Collections targeted included aerospace artifacts from the NASM collections, vertebrate fossils from the National Museum of Natural History, costume pieces from the National Museum of American History, and portrait sculpture from the National Portrait Gallery. Digitization techniques combined structured-light scanning used by teams familiar with Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory instrumentation, laser scanning applied to large objects like the Boeing 747 mockups, photogrammetry workflows popularized by groups at Cultural Heritage Imaging and photogrammetry labs at the University of Warwick, and medical-grade CT and MRI scanning procedures adapted from the National Institutes of Health research networks. Metadata standards referenced schemas from the Dublin Core, CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, and practices promoted by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Technology and Platform

Platform implementations used viewers and pipelines compatible with WebGL browsers, the Cesium (software) engine, and open formats such as OBJ, PLY, and glTF encouraged by the Khronos Group. Processing pipelines relied on photogrammetry suites from Agisoft, mesh-processing tools like MeshLab, and volumetric visualization tools evolved from research at Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The initiative also experimented with immersive display through partnerships testing Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and augmented reality on Apple and Google mobile devices, integrating with outreach portals maintained by the Smithsonian Institution Archives and aggregators like the Digital Public Library of America.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Collaborators spanned universities, cultural institutions, technology firms, and foundations including University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Cultural Heritage Imaging, 3D Systems, Google, Microsoft, Autodesk, the Knight Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Institutional partners included the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, The British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and regional museums such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Field Museum of Natural History. Research collaborations connected with projects at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and conservation expertise shared with the Getty Conservation Institute and Istituto Centrale per il Restauro.

Public Access and Educational Use

Public-facing outputs were integrated with educational programs at the National Air and Space Museum and school curricula aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and resources used by educators affiliated with the American Association of Museums and National Council for the Social Studies. Digital assets supported teacher resources distributed through platforms like the Google for Education and the Smithsonian Learning Lab, and informed exhibitions at the Renwick Gallery and traveling exhibits coordinated with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

Impact and Reception

Reception among practitioners in museology and heritage technology noted influence on subsequent digitization efforts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, and regional institutions. Reviews in journals associated with the American Alliance of Museums, Journal of Cultural Heritage, and conferences such as SIGGRAPH and Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology discussed methodological advances and challenges related to rights, preservation, and accessibility, informing policy dialogues at the Smithsonian Institution and national cultural agencies.

Category:Smithsonian Institution