Microworld
Virtual entomology project
Discovering an insect collection in 3D
Description
This project is under development. The aim is to give natural science institutions a way to digitise their collections of very small specimens.
Entomology is usually displayed as insects preserved under glass, which visitors find hard to walk around.
Here the virtual visitor can view them on PC, mobile or tablet, or in virtual, augmented or mixed reality. How the specimens are presented is left to each institution.
The scanning process is the result of more than 6 months of work to arrive at a method combining efficiency, precision and speed. A connected turntable had to be developed to automate the procedure, combining focus stacking, macro photography and gaussian splatting. The result is a detailed 3D model that is light enough to load on any device.