3D Scan of President Obama’s Portrait

According to the White House, the first 3D portrait of the President was created using 3D scanning technology using the ARTEC Eva handheld 3D scanner. Let’s take a look behind the scenes to see how the 3D portrait of the President was created!

Inspired by the portrait of President Lincoln, created 150 years ago, the team decided to preserve the portraits of current US leaders using the most modern technology on the market. Therefore, the project named “Next Generation 3D Portrait: Digital Portrait of President Obama” was born and took 2 years to complete, but in fact it only took 7 minutes from the time President Obama entered the room to complete the 3D scanning and data collection.

The ARTEC Eva handheld 3D scanner was used because of its high resolution and outstanding advantages. The President was asked to sit still for 90 seconds while two 3D digitizers worked with the Eva scanner. The collected data was displayed on a computer connected to the scanner.

72 hours later, the collected data was a file with 15 million points, ready to print a lifelike bust of the President. Printing a bust and cooling took another 66 hours.

The first 3D-printed portrait of a US President is on display at the Smithsonian Castle in the Commos Gallery from December 2 to December 31.

For more information on the Project story, visit the White House website.

Artyom Yukhin, Chairman and CEO of ARTEC, commented on the 3D portrait of the President:

“We are very proud that our scanner was used to 3D scan the President. With our technology, 3D scanning has never been easier to use and more accessible. In fact, anyone can now have their own 3D portrait, thanks to our handheld 3D scanner or our full-body scanner, the ARTEC Shapify Booth.”