PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2015) - Artec Group, a leading developer and manufacturer of professional 3D scanners, and CyArk, an international non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of world history for future generations, announce a cooperative agreement to use Artec's high-powered 3D scanners for the digital preservation of the world's most significant cultural heritage sites. The two companies will join forces as part of CyArk's 500 Challenge, a worldwide mission to collect and archive cultural heritage sites through laser scanning, digital modeling and other state-of-the-art technology. The process, known as Digital Preservation, is used for cultural resource management, condition assessment, conservation, restoration, reconstruction, structural analysis, interpretation, education, and cultural tourism.
The CyArk 500 Challenge, launched in October 2013, aims to digitally preserve 500 cultural heritage sites within the next five years, before they are ravaged by war, terrorism, arson, urban sprawl, climate change, earthquakes, floods and other threats. Artec Group's advanced hand-held 3D scanning technology, indisputably advantageous for the hand-held scanning of complex objects in diverse field conditions, will help to realize this goal, providing CyArk an indispensable tool in its documentation efforts.
"We're delighted to have Artec join us in the 500 Challenge. Artec's technology enables us to rapidly capture artifacts and important elements at a greater level of detail than traditional scanning, and we are very excited about future applications. We are proud to have Artec join the ranks of our esteemed technology partners around the world," says Elizabeth Lee, Vice President of CyArk.
The scan data collected from these sites will be used by CyArk to develop a free online 3D library, as well as create free educational lesson plans and activities. The 3D data also contributes to conservation and preservation of the sites.
"Artec is honored to facilitate CyArk's mission with close-range 3D scanning technology, and work within a team of top professionals accumulated around the 500 initiative. Often, huge architectural sites contain objects -- statues, bas-reliefs -- with intricate geometry; Artec technology will aid their digitization and supplement data of terrestrial scanning," said Artyom Yukhin, president and CEO of Artec Group.
More than 150 sites have been nominated to the 500 Challenge, with 80 approved and over 60 now preserved. These include Pompeii, the Sydney Opera House and the Leaning Tower of Pisa among others.
Artec 3D scanners have already been applied for digitizing smaller objects and surfaces with intricate geometry, including at Rani ki Vav stepwell in India and the Washington Monument in the US Capital. In August 2014, the CyArk team utilized Artec technology for scanning the British Museum's Assyrian Collection. The 3D models created from the scans will serve as a resource to help people better understand and engage with these objects.
About CyArk
CyArk was founded in 2003 to ensure heritage sites are available to future generations, while making them uniquely accessible today. CyArk operates internationally as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission of using new technologies to create a free, 3D online library of the world's cultural heritage sites before they are lost to natural disasters, destroyed by human aggression or ravaged by the passage of time.
http://www.cyark.org
About Artec Group
Artec Group™ is a global market leader in the development and manufacture of professional 3D scanning hardware and software. Extremely fast and efficient, Artec 3D scanners are used by thousands of people all over the world. Artec's mission is to unleash the 3D revolution, bringing 3D technologies to everyone, everywhere.
www.artec3d.com
Contact Information:
Press Contact
Sean Welch
Vantage PR for Artec Group
+1 407-767-0452 x228