Restoring a Vintage Nativity Set into Augmented Reality

Sometimes, I like a good challenge, especially when I can utilize my nerdy skills as part of meeting the challenge. Case in point: the restoration of a water damaged vintage cardboard Nativity Set into a 3D Augmented Reality (AR) model.

When this challenge came to my attention, I was already using Adobe Aero to experiment with converting vintage cardboard Star Wars playsets released by Kenner into AR models. Thus, converting a cardboard Nativity Set fell along the lines of what I was already doing. Below is a picture the Nativity Set as it appeared on the box in which it was released in the 1950s.  

In comparison to scanning and using detailed 3D models, it's much easier to assemble 2D images into 3D shapes. However, what made this challenging was the aforementioned water damage--the Nativity Set was somewhat submerged in a flooded basement a few years ago, which warped some of the surfaces and changed some of the colors. To fix this problem, I decided to use Abode Photoshop to smooth out the surfaces and restore the colors to their original vibrancy.

Here's one of the Nativity Set scans, which

shows some of the water damage.

This was a slow process, but worthwhile. I first used a flatbed scanner to scan each piece individually. Because the base of the Nativity Set was the largest piece, I had to divide it into four separate scans. I used Photoshop to adjust and restore each piece, and then exported them into Adobe Aero to assemble them into the complete Nativity Set. Not everything lined up perfectly, but it looks like the original set. I also enlarged the scale slightly so that the smaller details are more visible in AR. 

The restored Nativity Set in Adobe Aero (above) and in AR (below).

If you have Adobe Aero installed on your phone or tablet, you can scan the QR code below to see the AR Nativity Set for yourself.