A Web Community for Digitising Cultural Heritage Assets
Andrew WilsonBangor University
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Outline
• Context of the project− Overview
− What kind of heritage?
• Challenges facing archaeologists
• HeritageTogether− Photogrammetry
− Crowdsourcing
− HeritageTogether pipeline
• Engaging the public
• Engaging the academics
• Future work
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Overview3
“HeritageTogether is a project that aims to create 3D models of megalithic monuments (such as standing stones
and burial chambers) in Wales, UK, from crowd-sourced images. Members of the public upload their photographs
of the sites to the project website. Models are created using an open source Structure-from-Motion (SfM) work
flow”
Overview4
What kind of heritage?
Standing Stones5
Cairns6
Dolmens7
Passage Graves8
Challenges facing Archaeologists9
• Sites under threat from– Weather– Changes in climate– Urban development
• Time to survey sites
– Takes many hours for each site
• Number of sites to survey
– Over 2,500 sites identified in Wales
Recording Sites
• Traditional Recording
– Hand-drawn plans
– Measurements
• A Digital Record
– Photographs
– Total Station
– GPS
– Photogrammetry
– Laser scanning
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Photogrammmetry11
Photogrammmetry12
Crowdsourceing
Can the general public help?
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Crowdsourced 3D Modelling
They upload their photographs of a site,
we process the model and make it available on the website
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Crowdsourced 3D Modelling15
+ more…
1. A series of photographs
2. Sparse point cloud
Keypoints identified using SIFT
Camera position and pose estimated using a
sparse bundle adjustment system
CMVS breaks data into clusters
3. Dense point cloud
PMVS2 uses camera positions to
approximate 3D structure
Crowdsourced 3D Modelling16
3. Dense point cloud
4. Mesh
5. Textured Model
Poisson Surface Reconstruction
Texture created from blend of original images
Getting the Models Online17
5. Textured Model
Quadric Edge Collapse Decimation
Export X3D
X3DOM on webpage
6. Models in Browser
Engaging the Academics20
Engaging the Academics
Engaging the Public22
Exhibitions
Tangible Models
Open Days
Demonstrations
Workshops
Future Work
• Methods of improving the processing
• Analysis of the models
– Classification based on shape
– Extraction of data from models
• Tools for archaeologists
– Analysis of rock art and site information
– Compare sites
• Tools for the public
– Analyse maps and site information 23
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A Web Community for Digitising Cultural Heritage Assets
Thank you!