Life-size

A life-size exhibit illustrates American forces storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day during World War II.

Life-size 3D printing of central Paris has enabled the production of city replicas around this world.

Life-size 3D printing of the Acropolis has enabled the creation of reproductions around this world.

Ziri hates of life-size teddy bears.

Ziri is afraid of life-size teddy bears.

Life-size 3D models, used by Hollywood for creating amazing visual effects, can also serve as props for surgeons practicing complicated operations. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland, say even seasoned brain surgeons can benefit from the realistic training.

Residents and tourists in Washington D.C. can now examine a life-size replica of an unusual dinosaur that lived almost a hundred million years ago in northern Africa. Scientists say studying the behemoth named Spinosaurus helps them better understand how some prehistoric animals adapted to life on land and in water. The Spinosaurus replica is on display at the National Geographic Museum.

The whale is surrounded with a dizzying collection of similarly updated material, 750 sea creature models, high-definition video projections, interactive computer stations, and 14 renovated life-size dioramas, including elephant seals on Mexico's Guadalupe Island, an Arctic polar bear, and a dolphin feeding frenzy.

Stanford University Professor Albert Dean curated the exhibit. It includes 15 life-size terra cotta figures and 100 sets of artifacts.

"Walking with Dinosaurs — The Live Experience" uses life-size models of Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus and 13 other extinct dinosaurs to realistically re-create an era when these giants roamed the Earth.