![\"An](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Corpse-Preserver.jpeg\")
While the historical society\u2019s collection includes more than 265,000 artifacts and images from the state\u2019s history, the antique corpse preserver stands out for both its uniqueness \u2013 few of them remain intact in collections around the country \u2013 and its eeriness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely one of our creepiest things,\u201d Rapacz says. \u201cWe do have other creepy things, like jewelry made out of hair and things like that. But this is high up on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n
And just in time for spooky season, members of the public will have a chance to see and experience this macabre antique innovation in whole new way on Thursday, October 20 through a unique technological partnership with the Connecticut Historical Society, the Connecticut Tech Council, and UConn.<\/p>\n
Modeling History<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph Luciani is the director of the Proof of Concept Center at the Innovation Partnership Building<\/a> (IPB) at UConn Tech Park. He\u2019s worked at the University for six years, and primarily runs a prototyping lab that collaborates with small businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cMy lab is primarily focused on small or medium-sized manufacturers and helping them with technology jumps,\u201d says Luciani. \u201cThe space that I run is a prototyping lab, so it’s filled with 3D printers and machining centers \u2013 machines that help us make products. Most people think of a prototyping lab as where I can go to take my next big idea. But really what we’re doing is we’re focusing on the tools that help people make those ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n This October, he brought one of the modern technological tools of his trade \u2013 photogrammetry \u2013 to the Connecticut Historical Society\u2019s Library and Museum in Hartford to help build an interactive virtual model of the society\u2019s antique corpse preserver.<\/p>\n Luciani took a large series of highly detailed and high-resolution photographs of the corpse preserver\u2019s visible surfaces. Once completing that process, Luciani then used photogrammetry \u2013 a coordinate measuring technique \u2013 to extract three-dimensional information from the two-dimensional photographs in order to create a permanent, highly detailed digital representation of the six-foot-long corpse preserver.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I modeled this from scratch, just built a 3D model, it\u2019d be perfect,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have any of the history or even the imperfections of having a woodworker build it \u2013 it\u2019s hard to replicate the crafted hand of a woodworker, or where this is black-smithed together. It\u2019s artisanal, more so than just manufactured.\u201d<\/p>\n On October 20<\/a>, the historical society, UConn IPB, and the Connecticut Tech Council<\/a> will host \u201cX-Ray Vision: A Look into the Past\u201d at the historical society\u2019s museum and library<\/a> on Elizabeth Street in Hartford, a family friendly event where the public can view and interact with the new digital model \u2013 as well as the original corpse preserver \u2013 and learn more about how modern science and technology are helping historians and researchers learn more about the past.<\/p>\n “CT Tech Council is a networking hub for technology companies in Connecticut \u2013 we strive to make technology accessible for all ages, and this family-friendly event does just that,\u201d says Simon Lichter, the tech council\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe have partnered with UConn and Connecticut Historical Society to offer this innovative and fun event around the holiday of Halloween. During the evening of Thursday, October 20, attendees can expect to be amazed how high-tech research equipment can be used on historical objects and how these observation techniques are bringing history closer to study and learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n An Innovative Partnership<\/strong><\/p>\n While the partnership with the historical society led to Luciani\u2019s first-ever interaction with a creepy piece of funerary history, the organization and UConn IPB plan to continue using advanced technologies to discover hidden secrets while helping to preserve some of the collection\u2019s artifacts.<\/p>\n \u201cUConn\u2019s Innovation Partnership Building has a wealth of incredible equipment available for use by Connecticut businesses,\u201d says Michael DiDonato, the IPB\u2019s business development manager. \u201cWe were eager to connect with the Connecticut Historical Society to highlight the stark contrast of new high-tech equipment at the IPB with historic antiquities from our state\u2019s history, all in the effort to spread the word of our facility\u2019s capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s a partnership that benefits both groups \u2013 with IPB researchers using their technological skills in new and creative ways while helping the historical society create lasting digital representations of priceless pieces of Connecticut history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe usually try to not touch the objects too much,\u201d explains Rapacz. \u201cBeing able to get scans like this, to be able to see something from all directions, it\u2019s really great for us. We might see something that we’ve never seen before and be able to look at it from a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe partnership is fun!\u201d DiDonato says. \u201cOur researchers get excited about the possibility of using advanced scanning and microscopy equipment to explore our past, and we\u2019re secretly hoping to discover something historically relevant \u2013 but we\u2019ll see. Our investigation of the corpse preserver is the first of hopefully many interactions as we show off Connecticut\u2019s available resources at the IPB to help research Connecticut\u2019s past.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more information or to RSVP for the October 20 event \u201cX-Ray Vision: A Look into\u00a0the Past,\u201d visit <\/em>www.ct.org\/events<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/corpsepreserver_1-768x1024.jpg\")