How Students Used 3D Graphic Design, 3D Printing, and Artificial Technology to Breathe Life into Historical Figures?

Recently, we came across some interesting news. STEM School and Academy students created historical figures using 3D graphic design, 3D printing, and artificial technology. Located in Highlands, Colorado, the teachers came up a plan to generate interest amongst students after they exhibited how uninterested they were in what they were currently doing.

It Was a Blast

Whose Brilliant Idea Was This?

What Did the Experiment Achieve?

The students at the school used artificial-intelligence programming combined with 3D graphic design and 3D printing to create the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II. They programmed the emperor to answer a few questions such as “Who are your enemies?” to which he replies angrily, “My enemies were the British Empire and the French.”

Sometimes, he replied in an agreeable tone or frustrated tone depending on the students had programmed him to answer the question. They created his head using 3D printing and added green and red flaring eyes. They placed the heads on a Google Home Assistant and made it so that its mouth was in sync with the AI programming.

Owen Cegielski, the history teacher, came up with the idea after he noticed that students looked bored out of their minds during history lessons. He wanted to make history more excited for his students, thus the use of artificial intelligence programming, 3D printing, and 3D graphic design came to mind. The process allowed his students to ask the dead historical figures some important questions about history. For instance, this activity taught his students the reason militarists started a conflict that killed over 30 million people from 1914 to 1918.

The history teacher came up with this idea because he wanted to breathe life into history by giving it a voice. In addition to this, he wanted his students to assume the role of scientists, conduct experiments, and invent something extraordinary.

When asked if he had a plan on how he wanted to go about the experiment, he said, he didn’t have a plan and just told his students to become mad scientists, which sounds fitting as they breathing life into historical figures.

The talking head experiment increased engagement and made students look forward to creating, inventing, and designing historical figures using 3D design graphic design methods. This posed as a challenge for students to learn how to use new technology and methods to create something extraordinary.

Each student approached the project in his or her own way such as using 3D printing, sketching out the design, or using coding and software. Through the project, the students also gained more awareness about historical fact and figures, as they had to conduct a lot of research about what triggered World War I.  The teacher believes this to be a breakthrough in learning and encourages more schools to incorporate 3D printing, 3D graphic design, and artificial intelligence programming into their curriculum.

What is your opinion about using 3D technology in schools? Leave a comment below.