Skull 21
Restoration, Lighting and Experience Design, Science Center Delft, The Netherlands
For the entire project information, visit the Science Center Delft.
Shortlisted for the final rounds of the [d]arc awards 2021
Project Overview
A 66 million-year-old skull of a triceratops prorsus skull was damaged during her arduous cross Atlantic voyage in the 1950s. The skull was virtually reconstructed in 3D through 3D scanning and modeling, after which the missing parts were 3D printed and pieced together to form the complete skull.
Vision
To conceptualize the lighting design and visitor experience by focusing the story on the new technological methods used to restore the skull to its present anatomical accuracy and explore the technological methods used to display.
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Background Phase
Visitors enter the darkened room and see the moving shadow of the skull on a screen to build suspense.
3D Scanning Phase
Blinking strobe lights simulate the 3D scanner used for scanning the fossil in 3D
Reference Point Mapping Phase
explains Skull 21 reconstruction with reference from sister skulls of the same species
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Gobo Projection Phase
Gobo Projection lights are used to focus light on the fossil only to show Skull21 in her broken stage.
Spectral Tuning Phase
Light in the red spectrum is projected in the entire room to eliminate color differences between 3D printed PLA and fossil. Skull 21 appears as a complete fossil.
Detailed Exploration Phase
the visitors can self-explore the final highlights of the exhibition.
BACKGROUND PHASE
Shadow play with the Skull invokes suspense and curiosity among the visitors.
Visitors enjoy the shadow play on the screen.
SPECTRAL TUNING PHASE
Spectral Tuning in the red spectrum makes Skull21 appear as it would have looked as a complete fossil.
Light of various colors is flashed onto the samples for spectral tuning analysis. This helps the PLA(right in all images) appear one with the fossil (left in all images).
The seamless junction between the fossil (brown) and the 3D printed PLA (grey white)
VR TESTING
To properly simulate the visitor experience, VR testing was implemented for this project. The entire room with the Skull 21 was modeled in Unity. Various lighting fixtures and positions were simulated.
The model of the room with the Skull 21 on display modeled in Unity. PC: @Hugo Out.
LIGHTING PLANS
Lighting plans for the shadow play were initially simulated with a scaled 3D printed model of Skull 21. Various spot lights of different colors and positions were used to observe dramatic shadows.
3D Scanning and modeling were done by @Javid Jooshesh; display room designed by @Hugo Out; implementation of lighting design @Charl Smit.