Check out over a dozen legendary animals from the Ice Age era.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and La Brea Tar Pits have teamed up with researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) to develop a series of scientifically-accurate 3D models of over a dozen animals from the Ice Age, including the enormous Columbian mammoth and terrifying saber-tooth tiger.
In order to ensure users could access the AR animals on standard smartphones, the team went with a simplistic low-poly look. Don’t let the game-like visuals fool you, however. Not only is the appearance of each animal accurate, but their movements and behavior as well. The project was detailed in the recently-published study Palaeontologia Electronica.
“We think paleoart is a crucial part of paleontological research,” said Dr. Davis, lead author of the study. “That’s why we decided to publish all the scientific research and artistic decisions that went into creating these models. This will make it easier for other scientists and paleoartists to critique and build off our team’s work.”
“The innovation of this approach is that it allows us to create scientifically accurate artwork for the metaverse without overcommitting to details where we still lack good fossil evidence,” added Dr. Emily Lindsey, senior author of the study and assistant curator at La Brea Tar Pits.
- Ancient Bison
- American lion
- American mastodon
- Columbian mammoth
- Dire wolf
- Dwarf pronghorn
- Harlan’s ground sloth
- Saber-tooth cat
- Shasta gound sloth
- Short-faced bear
- Teratorn
- Western camel
- Western horse
The aforementioned AR models are available free to the public via a handful of apps, including Snapchat, Instagram, and Sketchfab.
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Credit: La Brea Tar Pits