Search

This paper describes a feasibility study for the digitisation of gravestones, specifically Jewish gravestones, alongside an implementation of Multi-Criteria Decision Making. MCDM methods are common in other contexts, and have been used to address issues particular to design, organisation and management of large-scale construction and engineering projects. They are, however, novel in the context of cultural heritage. This paper will examine the potentials of non-contact sensor technologies (including photogrammetry via Structure from Motion, structured light scanning and terrestrial laser scanning) to record, model and archive the stones and their inscriptions. The various methodologies will be assessed against set criteria, specifically speed, resolution, readability and scalability for mass recording, from MCDM including criteria given by humanities scholars in the field of history, theology and Jewish studies.

Die digitale Erfassung von Gebäuden und Objekten gehört inzwischen ebenso zum Standard einer denkmalgerechten Grundlagenermittlung wie die dauerhafte Überwachung eines Gebäudezustands mit intelligenten Sensorsystemen. Ziel ist die digitale Synthese aller für das Objekt relevanten Daten. Als eine Antwort auf diese Weiterentwicklung der Denkmalpflege ist der kooperative Masterstudiengang M.Sc. Digitale Denkmaltechnologien in enger Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg und der HAW Coburg entstanden. Dieser Studiengang bietet einen Überblick über die Leistungsfähigkeit und Grenzen derzeitiger und in Entwicklung befindlicher Technologien und widmet sich der zukunftsweisenden Ausbildung von Akteuren der Integration von digitalen Technologien in der Denkmalpflege. Diese Metadaten wurden zur Verfügung gestellt von der Literaturdatenbank RSWB®plus

The 3D-SLAM-based recording of historic gardens and architecture with the scope of geometric and quantitative analysis of typologies of garden architecture in the context of a designated cultural landscape will be presented. This will be illustrated by case studies of three baroque gardens of buildings belonging to the Cistercian order.The ‘Centre for Heritage Conservation studies and Technologies’ (KDWT) at the University of Bamberg is cooperating with the Cisterscapes project to deliver metric surveys, architectural comparison of the historic gardens as typical feature of the agricultural granges. The survey and research were conducted in autumn 2020 and 2021 in two granges in Franconia (Bavaria, Germany) as well as on the monastery of Ebrach.For the recording, SLAM technology, was the preference and a GeoSLAM ZEB Horizon was used. It is a solution using the data sequence acquired during motion for estimating the relative poses in real time. The case studies served not only to generate an accurate output to be explored in the Cistercian Cultural Heritage Project, but also as test of the instrumentation to ascertain best practices of the instrument. 3D digital documentation will contribute to the holistic understanding of garden plus architecture ensembles. 3D data analysis will be approached from an art-historical and architectural viewpoint, conclusions shall be drawn from interdisciplinary cooperation. This comparative research will serve to find similarities or differences and establish prototypical elements of these typical elements of Cistercian Cultural Landscape. The 3D records can also be used as basis for future monitoring and development of a new garden care concept taking heritage conservation into account. Heritage, in its many forms, is not only a representation of the past, but a connection or reconnection with a past that is active and alive in the present. It shapes and reshapes people’s sense of place, sense of belonging and cultural identities at the local and national level.

We are presenting a concept and first results of a Terrestrial Laser Scanner simulator - a tool, which could be a valuable educational tool for geomatics and engineering students. The main goal of the VirScan3D project is to cover engineering digitisation by two major project parts: 1) Development of a virtual environment for creation and processing of digital 3D scan data; 2) Digital teaching and e-learning material with interactive tools and practical experiences. Part 1 will be solved through the development of a virtual system that allows users to create realistic data in the absence of a real measuring device. At the time of writing (April 2020) all higher education teaching and learning worldwide has been changed to online delivery due to the Covid pandemic. However, this has affected the courses that involve working with equipment and – consequently – require the presence of students and devices. In this project, the development of such equipment simulator proposes a real and feasible solution, which allows undisturbed continuing the teaching.The virtual scanner will be based on existing software packages. It will be part of a general e-learning concept that will be implemented in partner universities. Part 2 is addressed through an integrated teaching concept that includes interactive learning tools (for both teachers and students) and practical exercises (for example project weeks, summer schools) where the theoretical and virtual education is connected to practical experience with real instrumentation and data. One outcome of the experimental work is additional e-learning material based on the experiences and results of the project work.The prototype implementation of the virtual laser scanner is realized within a game engine, which allows for fast and easy 3D visualisation and navigation. Within this environment, the user can freely navigate and define suitable scanning positions/stations. At each scanning station a simulated scan is performed, which is based on the technical specifications of a real scanner. The mathematical solution is based on 3D line intersection with the virtual 3D surface including noise and colour as well as an intensity simulation. As a result, 3D point clouds for each station are generated, which will be further processed for registration and modelling using standard software packages.

Understanding the issues in cultural heritage preservation and digital heritage begins with knowledge exchange and the education of present and future stakeholders in the sector. Therefore, an inno...

As cultural sector practice becomes increasingly dependent on digital technologies for the production, display, and dissemination of art and material heritage, it is important that those working in the sector understand the basic scientific principles underpinning these technologies and the social, political and economic implications of exploiting them. The understanding of issues in cultural heritage preservation and digital heritage begins in the education of the future stakeholders and the innovative integration of technologies into the curriculum. This paper gives an example of digital technology skills embedded into a module in the interdisciplinary UCL Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, named “Technologies in Arts and Cultural Heritage”, at University College London.

A new master’s degree commenced in 2017 at the University of Bamberg. The purpose of the M.Sc. Digital Technologies in Heritage Conservation is to impart theoretical and practical knowledge and develop competence in critical assessment and object-oriented solutions. The aims, curriculum and methods of teaching will be discussed in this paper.

The British Museum has in its collections a magnificent Byzantine ivory panel. However, the panel has become warped over time and there is a join on the left side, where it has suffered a break in the past. It has been connected with two metal pins and adhesive in a previous conservation treatment but there is now concern that these could be having an adverse influence on natural movements within the ivory. Given the importance of the panel, the decision was made to leave the pins in place and monitor the stability of the panel. As the geometry of the panel is complex, it was felt that microscopic imaging would not be suitable and 3D laser scanning was used instead. This engineering metrology technique is increasingly used in cultural heritage and conservation to record minute three-dimensional changes with high spatial accuracy. The resulting dataset is a detailed metric 3D record of the object surface in-the-round and comparison of subsequent scans with a reference scan can indicate dimensional ...

The accuracy of 3D surface reconstruction was compared from image sets of a Metric Test Object taken in an illumination dome by two methods: photometric stereo and improved structure-from-motion (SfM), using point cloud data from a 3D colour laser scanner as the reference. Metrics included pointwise height differences over the digital elevation model (DEM), and 3D Euclidean differences between corresponding points. The enhancement of spatial detail was investigated by blending high frequency detail from photometric normals, after a Poisson surface reconstruction, with low frequency detail from a DEM derived from SfM.

An independent means of 3D image quality assessment is introduced, addressing non-professional users of sensors and freeware, which is largely characterized as closed-sourced and by the absence of quality metrics for processing steps, such as alignment. A performance evaluation of commercially available, state-of-the-art close range 3D imaging technologies is demonstrated with the help of a newly developed Portable Metric Test Artefact. The use of this test object provides quality control by a quantitative assessment of 3D imaging sensors. It will enable users to give precise specifications which spatial resolution and geometry recording they expect as outcome from their 3D digitizing process. This will lead to the creation of high-quality 3D digital surrogates and 3D digital assets. The paper is presented in the form of a competition of teams, and a possible winner will emerge.

In the cultural heritage field the recording and documentation of small and medium size objects with very detailed Digital Surface Models (DSM) is readily possible by through the use of high resolution and high precision triangulation laser scanners. 3D surface recording of archaeological objects can be easily achieved in museums; however, this type of record can be quite expensive. In many cases photogrammetry can provide a viable alternative for the generation of DSMs. The photogrammetric procedure has some benefits with respect to laser survey. The research described in this paper sets out to verify the reconstruction accuracy of DSMs of some archaeological artifacts obtained by photogrammetric survey. The experimentation has been carried out on some objects preserved in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London (UCL). DSMs produced by two photogrammetric software packages are compared with the digital 3D model obtained by a state of the art triangulation color laser scanner. Intercomparison between the generated DSM has allowed an evaluation of metric accuracy of the photogrammetric approach applied to archaeological documentation and of precision performances of the two software packages.

This paper aims to provide a procedure for improving automated 3D reconstruction methods via vision metrology. The 3D reconstruction problem is generally addressed using two different approaches. On the one hand, vision metrology (VM) systems try to accurately derive 3D coordinates of few sparse object points for industrial measurement and inspection applications; on the other, recent dense image matching (DIM) algorithms are designed to produce dense point clouds for surface representations and analyses. This paper strives to demonstrate a step towards narrowing the gap between traditional VM and DIM approaches. Efforts are therefore intended to (i) test the metric performance of the automated photogrammetric 3D reconstruction procedure, (ii) enhance the accuracy of the final results and (iii) obtain statistical indicators of the quality achieved in the orientation step. VM tools are exploited to integrate their main functionalities (centroid measurement, photogrammetric network adjustment, precision assessment, etc.) into the pipeline of 3D dense reconstruction. Finally, geometric analyses and accuracy evaluations are performed on the raw output of the matching (i.e. the point clouds) by adopting a metrological approach. The latter is based on the use of known geometric shapes and quality parameters derived from VDI/VDE guidelines. Tests are carried out by imaging the calibrated Portable Metric Test Object, designed and built at University College London (UCL), UK. It allows assessment of the performance of the image orientation and matching procedures within a typical industrial scenario, characterised by poor texture and known 3D/2D shapes.

3D representations were made of a small Egyptian scarab with a gold band by a number of methods, based on photogrammetry and photometric stereo. They were evaluated for colour fidelity and spatial detail, in the context of a study of toolmarks and manufacturing techniques of jewellery in ancient Egypt. It was found that although a 3D laser scanner gave the best geometric accuracy, the camera-based methods of photogrammetry and photometric stereo gave better representation of fine detail and colour on the object surface.

A method is presented for increasing the spatial resolution of the three-dimensional (3-D) digital representation of coins by combining fine photometric detail derived from a set of photographic images with accurate geometric data from a 3-D laser scanner. 3-D reconstructions were made of the obverse and reverse sides of two ancient Roman denarii by processing sets of images captured under directional lighting in an illumination dome. Surface normal vectors were calculated by a “bounded regression” technique, excluding both shadow and specular components of reflection from the metallic surface. Because of the known difficulty in achieving geometric accuracy when integrating photometric normals to produce a digital elevation model, the low spatial frequencies were replaced by those derived from the point cloud produced by a 3-D laser scanner. The two datasets were scaled and registered by matching the outlines and correlating the surface gradients. The final result was a realistic rendering of the coins at a spatial resolution of 75 pixels/mm (13-μm spacing), in which the fine detail modulated the underlying geometric form of the surface relief. The method opens the way to obtain high quality 3-D representations of coins in collections to enable interactive online viewing.

This paper describes the 3D digital documentation of a highly significant cultural heritage object from the Melanesian Southwest Pacific, held in the ethnographic collections of the British Museum. The object, which dates from about 1910, is a large plank-built war canoe from the island of Vella Lavella in New Georgia, Solomon Islands. 3D laser scanning is paired with anthropological research, which aims to deliver a holistic virtual 3D reconstruction and multimedia interactive delivery of the boat for the digital repatriation to the source community.

We are presenting a Terrestrial Laser Scanner simulator - a software device which could be a valuable educational tool for geomatics and engineering students. The main goal of the VirScan3D project is to cover engineering digitisation and will be solved through the development of a virtual system that allows users to create realistic data in the absence of a real measuring device in a modelled real life environment (digital twin). The prototype implementation of the virtual laser scanner is realised within a game engine, which allows for fast and easy 3D visualisation and navigation. Real life objects can be digitised, modelled and integrated into the simulator, thus creating a digital copy of a real world environment. Within this environment, the user can freely navigate and define suitable scanning positions/stations. At each scanning station a simulated scan is performed which is adapted to the technical specifications of a real scanner. The mathematical solution is based on 3D line intersection with the virtual 3D surface including noise and colour as well as an intensity simulation. As a result, 3D point clouds for each station are generated, which will be further processed for registration and modelling using standard software packages.