The Smithsonian Institution is well on their way carrying their collection into the 21st century online obsession. $350k is designated annually to fund 3D scanning and printing of their gigantic collections of 137 million objects. They plan to use this technology to make the Smithsonian collection easily available to the public online; while also permitting 3D models to be made in a assortment of materials. This development will give researchers, schools, and any computer user the gift to study each objects in-depth. Also, museum educators are in the works to create tours of the objects to an online audience.
Another plan the institute campaigns for the future is a $15M center in the National Mall, which will allow visitors to create 3D prints of museum objects of their choice. Some of the works already digitalized include, the Wright brothers’ first airplane, Amelia Earhart’s flight suit, casts of President Abraham Lincoln’s face during the Civil War and a Revolutionary War gunboat.
