9 03 ‘ 2020 museomag
3D EXHIBITIONS /
works by projecting an invisible pattern into a space.
The way that it deforms when striking surfaces allows
it to calculate the depth and surface information of the
space and the objects (objects, display cases, etc.) it
contains. The 3D sensor gathers special information
by rotating around its axis and the system’s camera si-
multaneously produces high-resolution images of the
same space. 3D spaces consist of a large number of
such individual scans.
In a second step, the data is transferred to the Mat-
terport servers where the spatial information captured
by the 3D sensor and the high-resolution images are
combined in order to create a 3D space. Finally, the di-
gitization department enriched the resulting 3D model
with textual information as well as multimedia content
such as images, PDFs and videos.
NOT A SUBSTITUTE TO A REAL
MUSEUM VISIT
Despite being a propriety system, one of the techno-
logy’s main advantages, especially during lockdown, is
that spaces can be scanned by a single person. This
way social distancing measures could be respected.
Getting the exhibitions online was not only a techno-
logical feat, it also involved the collaborative effort of a
number of people. The museum’s accounting depart-
ment hastily dealt with administrative details, in-visible
scanned the different spaces in only a matter of days,
copyright holders gave their permission to publish
videos online and graphic designers adapted the layout
of the different catalogues so that they could be made
freely available.
Even though the 3D scans of the MNHA’s current
temporary exhibitions were created in order to com-
pensate the limitations imposed by the lockdown, they
will remain available for the foreseeable future. Despite
the fact that the museum has reopened its doors in the
meantime, it is not yet advisable to the more vulner-
able among us to visit public spaces and travelling will
remain rather complicated over the coming months.
The 3D spaces allow visitors to experience exhibitions
that would otherwise have been fully inaccessible, but
they are certainly not a substitute to a real museum
visit. Over the coming months, the focus of the MNHA’s
digital department will shift towards its collections
platform (collections.mnha.lu) in order to enlarge the
number of works that are currently available here.
Gilles Zeimet
Links 3D@MNHA
- https://www.mnha.lu/en/exhibitions/current
- https://www.mnha.lu/en/useful-information/
3d-tours/3d-tours
Links 3D@M3E
- https://m3e.public.lu/fr/visites-activites/
visites-3d.html
