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Three-dimensional laser technology scans that captured every nook of the four presidential faces and other features of the monument last year mean that starting last week, visitors will be able to take in-depth tours of the four presidential faces and see other features of the monument online.
The portal, comprised of models of the monument, allows people remote access to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota to plan a visit or explore unusual areas, said Maureen McGee-Ballinger, the memorial’s director of interpretation and education. The monument draws about 3 million in-person visitors a year.
Online users are able to manipulate or dissect the three-dimensional models in various ways to learn more about the 60-foot granite carvings of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, McGee-Ballinger said.
Crews scanned the entire monument and other features of the park in 2010 for historic documentation and preservation.
“They physically scanned all the different aspects of the sculpture,” McGee-Ballinger said. “This is going to really enhance our preservation aspect.”
The project is a five-year collaboration between the National Park Service and CyArk, a nonprofit project of the Kacyra Family Foundation based in Orinda, Calif. The Scottish government also provided resources and technology to perform the 3-D laser documentation, McGee-Ballinger said.
Some of the sights and experiences that virtual visitors to the memorial will be able to take in that they couldn’t in person are climbing to the top of the structure or accessing the Hall of Records behind the presidents’ heads, said Elizabeth Lee, director of operations at CyArk.
Younger people are so accustomed to three-dimensional content because of video games that “being able to communicate about a historical site or the reservation work, you need something that is going to interest them or entice them,” Lee said.
“Just on the educational front, having 3-D media is a great way to engage the next generation,” she said.
The Kacyra Family Foundation, formed to foster humanitarian, cultural and scientific endeavors, has documented about 50 historical sites using state-of-the-art technology, including Pompeii in Italy and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It says it is committed to preserving world heritage and freely disseminating the data.
The Mount Rushmore data also will be available to researchers and teachers who want to incorporate it into their lesson plans, McGee-Ballinger said.
