Backup Ukraine, a collaborative project between UNESCO National Commission and Polycam (a 3D creation tool) which enables anyone equipped with a cell phone to scan and capture photorealistic 3D models of heritage sites in order to preserve them in case they are bombed.

Armed with the Polycam software (offered for free for the project) and an iPhone, the technology allows citizen archivists off the frontlines to preserve Ukrainian heritage sites.

Singularity Hub has an excellent article that describes the history of 3D capture as well as this effort at using it for cultural preservation. The article does a good job of covering previous solutions like Cyark, Google Map’s new Immersive view, AI tools like Luma, Scenario 3D, as well as upcoming technologies like Gaussian Splatting and NeRFs.

This kind of cultural and artistic preservation is unfortunately something the West and even my home town of Portland likely needs. In 2020, Portland Oregon saw over 100 nights of rioting and targeted, wide-spread artistic and cultural destruction by increasingly armed left wing protesters.

Articles:

• https://singularityhub.com/2023/11/06/a-revolution-in-computer-graphics-is-bringing-3d-reality-capture-to-the-masses/
• https://singularityhub.com/2022/03/27/nvidias-tiny-new-ai-transforms-photos-into-full-3d-scenes-in-mere-seconds/
• https://blog.google/products/maps/three-maps-updates-io-2022/
• https://lumalabs.ai/