SMITHSONIAN GOES 3-D; LOCAL FIRM CREATES VIRTUALLY REAL VISITS TO NATIONAL INSTITUTION.

Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer

Imagine visiting the Air and Space Museum in Washington and looking at the Apollo 11 lunar module from all sides.

Then imagine sitting in the craft that took Neal Armstrong to the moon. Imagine even taking it apart to see what makes it work.

Anyone with a computer may get a chance to do just that through Synthonics Technology of Westlake Village, which plans to release a CD-ROM this fall that features the lunar module and 800 other highlights from the Smithsonian Institution's 16 museums.

Utilizing its patented three-dimensional imaging technology, Synthonics will give computer users a broad and varied look at the vast Washington archives of history, art, culture and science, seen by a record 30 million in-person visitors in 1997.

``I realized that there was no simple index or guide or introduction to the Smithsonian,'' said Mike Carrigan, director of affiliated programs for the museum. ``This is a guide, and it tells you where to go.''

Visiting the Smithsonian via computer may not be as exciting as actually being there, but the software lets visitors virtually handle the displays, zoom in for a closer look, turn them upside down or even take them apart.

``You can turn and control and zoom in and see details that most scholars would never have access to,'' Carrigan said.

In February 1996, the Smithsonian put 300 of its most popular artifacts on an unprecedented, 10-city tour. About 3.5 million came to see the traveling exhibit, which cost $55 million and required 80 tractor-trailers to haul. Now the same artifacts could be available to people 24 hours a day with a level of interaction never before possible.

Previous methods of producing 3-D images required poking and prodding of the objects, a process that, when applied to priceless or delicate museum artifacts, caused hand wringing by curators. The Synthonics technique requires nothing more invasive than a series of snapshots.

Pictures are taken at various angles, and software creates a virtual image of the object, said F. Michael Budd, president and chief executive officer of Synthonics. With the click of a button and the donning of red-and-blue eyeglasses, the image bursts into 3-D.

``We don't have to handle the parts to capture the data,'' Budd said. ``Ours is a very simple procedure. We just have to photograph it.''

Synthonics, founded in 1993, has 13 employees in its Westlake Village headquarters and Agoura Hills production house. It owns five patents with another expected in August. Ten U.S. and 10 international patents are pending, Budd said.

One of the first projects Synthonics completed for the Smithsonian was a sample database of 25 historic statues of the Virgin Mary.

``The museum committee went nuts over it,'' Carrigan said. ``You were able to zoom in on the image to such a tight enlargement that you could do a close analysis. . . . The clarity is so exceptional.''

Synthonics also created a virtual replica of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, allowing schoolchildren to see how the device actually worked, rather than simply view it through protective glass and be told about its significance to slavery and the South.

``If you demonstrate (how it works) and (students) actually see it happen, they say now I understand,'' Carrigan noted.

The relatively low cost of Synthonics technology also appealed to the museum, Carrigan said. The introductory Smithsonian CD-ROM cost $450,000, while the Virgin Mary project cost just $100,000.

``There were other companies out there, but they couldn't match the clarity,'' Carrigan said. ``They couldn't begin to match the price.''

The 140 million objects on display at the Smithsonian's museums represent less than 1 percent of everything the institution has, Carrigan said. Some items are too fragile for display, while others come from a period of art or history that has better representatives.

Theoretically, every object could be digitized and made available on the Internet without ever removing objects from protective storage, he said.

The technology also allows art and artifacts in private collections to be put on virtual display for the public while they remain in their owners' possession.

``The owners don't want to relinquish the artifact, but are willing to have it digitized,'' Budd said.

Beyond the walls of museums, Budd envisions medical and commercial applications for his technology.

If the company takes X-rays of people or objects, it also can provide a 3-D image of internal structure, he said. A three-dimensional X-ray can form a picture of a patient's skeleton or jaw to help doctors and dentists prepare for procedures.

The technology also can create an in-store feeling for customers shopping over the Internet, he said. A customer could virtually pick up an object with the computer mouse and move it around to look at all sides, Budd said. He said it will be a big improvement over online markets that offer little more than catalog photographs of merchandise.

By the end of the month, Synthonics-aided images will make their debut on a Web commerce site, Budd said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1-2--Color in Conejo Edition only) (Photo 2 ran in Conejo and SAC Editions only) F. Michael Budd and Synthonics Technology have created a CD-ROM featuring Smithsonian works, including a Virgin Mary wood carving.

David Sprague/Daily News