For decades the Seymour Marine Research Center in California offered a home to ‘Ms. Blue’, an 84-foot whale skeleton and local icon. But the years and elements weren’t kind to the bones leading the Center to look for sustainable ways to preserve it.

Enter Hollywood VFX studio Halon Entertainment which had an idea on how to save Ms. Blue for future generations, starting with a precision LiDAR scan down to the millimeter using a Leica Geosystems scanner. That led to a 3D model which became the base for a series of realistic, animated educational videos and an AR replica – the model was also used to create replacement bones 3D printed from recycled hospital trays.

Can you tell us a little of Ms Blue’s history and how the skeleton ended up at the Seymour Center?

In 1979, Ms.Blue washed ashore on Pescadero Beach in California, and her bones were saved by University of California Santa Cruz faculty, students and staff. The bones were mounted to a steel structure in 1985, and then moved to their current location at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in 2000.

Can you talk us through how the idea for the project first came about?

I was visiting family up in Santa Cruz, and while I was out on a run I stumbled upon Ms. Blue. After a discussion with my aunt who lived nearby and volunteers at the Seymour Center, she mentioned the bones needed to come down due to safety concerns.

I decided to go back early the following morning and scan them with my phone using the RealityScan app. After processing the scan to Sketchfab and seeing the low res scan in augmented reality, the concept was born. We could create a digital double which could replace the current bones in AR, while capturing the high resolution detail with a Leica LiDAR scanner to preserve her for the center. Once we got in touch with the Seymour team, the project took off.

Read more at: Shots Magazine