Shake Hands with the "Resurrected" Dinosaur

From the pile of broken bones in the rock formation to the lifelike image of dinosaurs, from the behemoths of the past that people have not witnessed hundreds of millions of years ago to the now powerful images of households, the efforts and cooperation of scientists and artists are indispensable. The most worth mentioning name is Hawkins. His hometown is on the British Isles. The bells of Big Ben and the quietly flowing Thames are the symbols of that country. It was in this country that dinosaurs were first discovered. The term "dinosaur" also originated here, and it was from here that dinosaurs gradually entered thousands of households. The story goes back to a winter day in 1853.

The horse-drawn carriage drove on the streets of London in 1853, and the person sitting in the carriage was the famous British animal sculptor Hawkins. He did not dare to stay for a moment, and hurried to the studio in the southern suburbs of the city-because he wanted to show his latest work-the dinosaur statue to two distinguished guests. Although as early as 31 years ago, a doctor named Mantel who also came from the United Kingdom discovered and named the world's first dinosaur-Iguanodon; although as early as 11 years ago, Hawkins's friend, British Paleontology Owen officially used the term dinosaur, but at that time most Londoners did not know what dinosaurs looked like, and even scientists did not dare to determine the appearance of dinosaurs. Therefore, the restoration of dinosaurs was a work that was not understood by people at the time, and may destroy the reputation of the world. What's more, Hawkins' restored dinosaurs are going to be exhibited in the Crystal Palace, the venue of the Expo.

The two mysterious and distinguished guests that Hawkins will soon meet are Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In that humble studio full of various objects, Queen Victoria was shocked by the huge Artificial animatronic dinosaur. She opened her eyes in surprise and asked, "How exactly is this done?" And when the Queen listened to Hawkins's entire production process, she praised it again and again.

It turned out that making an Animatronic Dinosaurs at that time was a long and complicated job, not only testing the skill of the person, but also testing patience. First of all, we need to draw. This work seems to be a relatively easy task today, but it was a brainstorming task at the time, because the fossil materials were rare. Hawkins needs Irving to provide him with all the detailed data and details of the fossils, and to do comparative research with living animals. For example, Iguanodon's teeth are similar to iguanas, so it will be restored according to the iguana's appearance. Iguanodon also has a horn, which is close to the rhinoceros horn, so its position is likely to be on the nose-of course, this is obviously a mistake, it is actually a defensive thorn on the thumb. Although Hawkins' drawing is far away from the various restoration maps we have today, his methods and principles of analysing the ancients are still the basic theory of restoring all extinct creatures today. The next step is to make a small model using clay. Although this small model may be just a handle, it requires detailed handling. From every scale, every toe, and every tooth of the dinosaur, we must strive for excellence. When the small model is approved by the paleontologist, the solid model can be made of clay, then the supporting steel frame can be made, and finally the model can be reinforced and colored.

The production of a dinosaur model ranges from a dozen days to a few months. In 1854, dozens of large and small simulated dinosaur sculptures made by Hawkins and the rebuilt Crystal Palace appeared in public view. Not only attracted the attention of world scientists and naturalists, but also made the dinosaurs form an indissoluble bond with the World Expo. In 1876, the World Expo in Philadelphia also exhibited Hawkins' dinosaur works; in the Chicago Expo in 1933, the famous Sinclair Oil Company held a special dinosaur exhibition-especially worth mentioning is that they successfully installed the electric motor inside the dinosaur sculpture , Making the dinosaur model move for the first time; the dinosaur model made by inflatable sculptor Paul Jonas at the 1964 New York World Expo attracted thousands of visitors; at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, several articles from western Liaoning, China Feathered dinosaur fossil treasures are a feast for hundreds of millions of viewers.

Today, using modern model making technology and display methods, we can bring space and time closer and bring people into close contact with dinosaurs. At present, the simulated dinosaurs exhibited in the museum use steel as a support, high-density sponges and fibers to make dinosaur muscles, plus mechanical transmission devices and control procedures. Every detailed action of the dinosaurs produced in this way can be simulated naturally, and with appropriate calls, the visitors have a real sense of dream through the time tunnel. With the development of 3D printing technology, by inputting dinosaur body shape data into a computer, the model can be produced more accurately and quickly, and the cost is greatly reduced compared with the traditional process, which makes the dinosaur model enter the home of ordinary people from the museum.

In addition to the innovation of model making technology, dinosaur exhibition technology is also developing by leaps and bounds under the impetus of high technology. On the one hand, the dynamic dinosaur model is more refined. For example, the Tyrannosaurus Rex model in the dinosaur exhibition hall of the Natural History Museum in London, in addition to being able to move throughout the body, even the eyeballs can also rotate with the sound effects and dynamics, and can even unexpectedly face the fierce audience with the fierce, and then match the lighting and shadow Harmony sound effects can very realistically the attitude and living environment of Automatic Animatronic Dinosaurs, so that the audience are all screaming and scrambling to take pictures, and the small audience is even more excited. On the other hand, many museums also use display methods that combine dinosaur fossils and dynamic models, that is, make models in full proportion of dinosaur fossil skeleton 1: 1, display the fossils and models together, and perform the shape and movement simulation. The audience can establish a stimulus link between the fossil and the model in a simple and clear way, which strengthens the specific image of the dinosaur in the mind.

Technology is constantly evolving, and perhaps in the foreseeable future, our technology cannot yet resurrect the former giant beasts like dinosaurs as depicted in the movie "Jurassic Park". But with the rapid development of paleontological model making and display technology, in the near future, we can experience a fantastic journey through time and space in museums and parks to shake hands with dinosaurs that are "resurrected" by technological means.

About Gengu Dinosaurs Technology

Gengu Dinosaurs Technology is a leading professional manufacturer in design and production of animatronic exhibits. We aim to help our worldwide clients create and open dinosaur / Jurassic theme parks, zoos, museums, exhibitions and events. Gengu was founded in January 2007. The company and factory is located in Zigong, Sichuan, Southwest of China. Now the company has 220 employees and runs 39,800 square meters workshop to produce life-size, life-like static and animatronic exhibits of dinosaurs, animals, dragons, insects, ice age animals, marine life and customized products.

So far, Gengu has exported the Dinosaurs exhibits to more than 72 countries and regions in the world. Our static and animatronic creatures can be suited for both indoor and outdoor, travelling and permanent display. We can also provide customized layout design and build services for our clients. Design, installation and after-sale service are our key services, customers satisfaction are the cores which we serve.

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