Autodesk and the NPS are creating a virtual tour of the USS Arizona

Have you ever wondered what the USS Arizona battleship would look like if it were raised from the deep? For the past year, the National Park Service has collaborated with Autodesk and other partners to use sonar, photo imaging, and other technology to survey and create a 3-D model of the USS Arizona in its current state on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Preliminary 3-D printings were showcased Monday, along with interactive 3-D maps and printings of artifacts found on the sea floor. The project is meant to educate people about the importance of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

For nearly three quarters of a century, the USS Arizona has rested practically untouched in the waters of Pearl Harbor, acting as both the final resting place of and enduring tribute to the 1100 marines and sailors that lost their lives aboard it. Today, the National Park Service and Autodesk unveiled the results of an intensive modern survey that will soon allow anyone in the world to virtually explore the battleship in all her former glory. Building off its previous success digitizing obscure and rarely displayed artifacts from the Smithsonian’s massive collection, Autodesk has teamed up with the NPS to construct a near perfect digital recreation of the USS Arizona war memorial. Since the Arizona is, first and foremost, an active military cemetery, both the Navy and the NPS (upon taking stewardship of the site in 1980) have been careful to avoid disturbing it.