Creating A Noah's Ark Of 3D-Printed Animals, Before They Disappear
If you never make it to South America to
witness a rare frog (or if it goes extinct), the Digital Life project wants to
make sure you can still see what one looks like in person.
If you've never seen a horned frog, a
near-threatened species from South America, a new digital library will let you
zoom in on every bump on its brightly colored skin. The site, Digital Life, hopes to eventually catalog 3D
digital models of every living species on earth.
By preserving nature digitally—starting with
frogs and sea turtles, two groups of animals that are particularly
threatened—the researchers want to create new tools for science and education.
"A lot of animal species are threatened
or going extinct, and obviously a 3D model is not going to bring them back from
extinction," says Duncan Irschick, a professor at the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst. "But it does showcase the animal in a new
way."
Irschick and his team designed a camera rig
called the Beastcam, which can quickly capture photographs from 30 cameras
balanced on 10 arms. Then, using off-the-shelf software, the photographs can be
stitched together to create a high-res, full-color model that someone can
explore using virtual reality goggles or a simple online display.
"Our breakthrough really was we designed
this system for living animals, which hadn't been done before," he says.
"Living animals vary in how large they are, and their shape and size is
just so challenging. But we created a system that's very flexible, and it's
portable, so you can take it out in the field."
The rig is currently scaled for smaller
animals, but can easily be scaled up. The modular design can also add additional
arms.
The photographs are captured quickly, though
the researchers are tweaking the system so it will eventually work even faster.
"The current design is for animals that are willing to pose for a second
or two for a photograph," says Irschick. "But we're moving toward
systems that would work with a moving animal."
There are 4,000 frog species in the world,
and the team plans to start by digitally preserving 40 to 60, working as
quickly as possible. For one species they planned to scan—Rabbs' fringe-limbed
tree frog—the last known individual in the world died in September.
"We were hoping to scan it, but it
died," he says. "That species is gone. But there are many, many
others left in nature or captivity that there may only be a handful of
individuals left. We're literally racing against time."
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
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