Access 3D Lab | University of South Florida

  • Students in Access 3D Lab
  • USF student scanning a historic building
  • Students in Access 3D Lab
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  • Access 3D Lab vision statement

Welcome to Access 3D Lab

Access 3D lab is the leading destination for research and training in advanced digital technologies.

We digitize lighthouses, artifacts, islands, skeletal remains (including dinosaur skulls), totem poles, live humans, art galleries, and much more.

We leverage cutting-edge 3D scanners and drones for advanced research and social good. This means preserving at-risk cultural heritage sites with lidar, revitalizing urban districts with augmented reality, transforming early childhood education with 3D printing and virtual reality, and pioneering geospatial workflows for smart cities.

News Headlines

Image tracking for ARTours Clearwater

Access 3D Lab publishes article about augmented reality for urban placemaking

Lab director Laura Harrison co-authored a new article in the ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage on using augmented reality (AR) to enhance public art installations. The study details the design and development of ARTours Clearwater, an AR app that integrates lidar scanning, Vuforia tracking, and Unity-based animations to increase engagement and foot traffic in urban spaces. The research highlights AR’s potential to transform city landscapes.

A 3D lidar scan of the Breezer streetcar

Dr. Harrison speaks about digitizing Tampa's historic streetcars at Tampa Bay History Center

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Learn about Tampa’s historic streetcar system, an iconic element of the city’s urban heritage that connects the past to the present. Residents and visitors may be familiar with the modern replica streetcars that traverse Tampa, but there are two additional archival streetcars from the early 20th century that rarely make it out of Hillsborough County’s carbarn. This presentation discusses a University of South Florida project to scan the streetcars and stations to create a digital archive for the City of Tampa.

Access 3D Lab Calendar

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