PARSEC Is Operational

Working this past fall with a student, Tommy Ladwig, on his PCEM capstone project, I was finally able to utilize PARSEC to generate models and data relevant to a student and their instruction here at Stout. It has been a long time coming and I want to take a moment to celebrate that accomplishment! The results are still not perfect and we have much to improve, a task that I expect will never be fully complete, but the eight year journey from a proposal to a functioning tool deserves a moment of recognition when the finish line is reached, even if no records were set in the sprint.

The First Models

Here are links to the models that were created for Tommy and his research. Tommy wanted to acquire and scan some classic lego figurines from his youth. The Bionicle figurines have been a part of rich world and lore developed by the company over years, but the ones we captured originated from the early 2000’s and right now represent a small lost piece of history that is difficult to acquire.

Click here to view the full Bionicle Figurine Collection on sketchfab.

These were captured using a much smaller portion of the full PARSEC rig. An automated turntable was utilized as well as flash strobes and a backdrop curtain but otherwise the same software and hardware used in the full PARSEC rig were able to control this setup. It was reassuring to find that we can scale DOWN and utilize this equipment for smaller objects. We still need to improve the detail in the final textures which, as of now, are far too blurry to represent what PARSEC is capable of, but for now, we have succeeded in providing Tommy with the data needed to tell the story of these figurines and share them digitally with a new generation. This is a key part of what PARSEC seeks, to help everyone, everywhere gain access to everything.