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Demonstration of Heritage 3D Imaging Applications in Israel

Jacques Domey, Luc Cournoyer and John Taylor
Visual Information Technology
Institute for Information Technology
National Research Research Council of Canada

and

 Robin Letellier
Consultant
Heritage Recording, Documentation and Information Management (*)
(Heritage 3D)

I. Introduction

In October, 1996, in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Robin Letellier, a consultant in heritage recording, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) undertook a pilot project to demonstrate the applications of one of NRC's 3-D imaging systems - a Large Field of View Laser Scanner - for heritage recording applications in Israel. The system was used to scan the Tomb of St. James in Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchral Lintel in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, as well as several archaeological and architectural site features at Caesarea. Ya'acov Schaffer and Gail Sussman of the IAA and Robin Letellier initiated this project in the summer of 1996 as a result of the Heritage Recording Training provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada in May, 1995.

Each site was used to demonstrate the use of the system for different heritage recording applications.  The objective of this report is to illustrate the results for heritage and conservation professionals.

II. Large Field of View Laser Scanner

  • The Large Field of View Laser Scanner is designed for high resolution monochrome 3-D digitization of large structures. For heritage recording applications, sculptures, architectural features and archaeological sites can be recorded at a standoff distance ranging from 50 cm to 10 m. At a standoff of 50 cm, the resolution is 70 microns and is 2 cm at 10 m. The camera can either be mounted on a conventional photographic tripod or on a custom designed telescoping tripod which can be raised to a height of 10 m. Additional technical details are presented in Laser Scanner Basic Principles.

    To record an entire object, sequential overlapping images are recorded from multiple points of view. Subsequently, the multiple view data sets are merged or integrated into a seamless archival quality high resolution 3-D digital model of the object using POLYWORKS software. For further details, see Model Generation Principles .

    Once recorded, the software enables the archival 3-D model to be transferred into different formats and used for a variety of heritage recording applications.

    Examples include:

    •

    III. Pilot Project Results

    The following 3-D model data was obtained from St. James Tomb (Benè Hézir) in Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchral Lintel in the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum and several archaeological site features at Caesarea during four days of tests undertaken during the 3rd week of October, 1996.

    The 3-D models from each site (click on the image) are included in this CD at several levels of resolution to facilitate viewing on different platforms. The lower resolution models are in VRML 2.0 3-D format for viewing on PC platforms. The higher resolution models are in POL (POLYWORKS) format for viewing on Silicon Graphics and Windows NT4.0 platforms. Viewers for 3-D Models contains additional details on viewing the models as well as software on this CD. Viewers are reminded that the Large Field of View System used currently records in monochrome only.
     A. St. James Tomb - Benè Hézir

    The Arcosolia Room of St. James Tomb in Jerusalem measures approximately 2 m x 2 m x 1.8 m in height. It has been carved in the rock and the interior surfaces are rough and irregular in shape. Surfaces of this nature are very difficult to accurately record using conventional recording techniques. The objective was to digitize the entire interior of the Tomb in high resolution. In addition, the data was used to prepare an interactive 3-D VR theater display of the Tomb in actual size to demonstrate the application for "virtual tours" of the site. This display is not included on the CD.
     B. Holy Sepulchral Lintel, Rockefeller Archaeological Museum.

    The system was used to scan a 1 square meter section of the Holy Sepulchral Lintel in the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. The objective was to produce a high resolution 3-D digital model of the Lintel to provide a record which can be used to (1) fabricate either a 1:1 or a scale model replica and (2) produce a model which can be used for curatorial / historical research and (3) to demonstrate the application for monitoring future decay or deterioration.
    C. Caesarea

    Caesarea is one of Israel's more important archaeological sites.  The Large Field of View scanner was taken to the site and used to scan the following archaeological and architectural features.
    C-1. Roman Mosaic

    Mosaic Floor patterns are often difficult and time consuming to accurately record using conventional recording techniques. The scanner was used to document a section of a Roman floor mosaic to demonstrate the application of 3-D imaging to provide a database for analyzing the pattern, documenting the condition and ongoing monitoring of the floor as well as representing the floor surface in 2-D and 3-D.
    C-2. Marble Mosaic

    Similar to the above, it is often difficult to record the shapes of marble mosaics using conventional recording techniques. Using the image data, the boundaries of the individual marble tiles as well as the cracks can be examined in detail.
    C-3. Byzantine Mosaics

    The purpose of this scan was to document a Byzantine floor mosaic which was in poor condition. The data provides a record which can be used to assist in assessing the condition of the floor as well as to monitor ongoing deterioration with time.
    C-4. Hippodrome Fresco

    The surface condition of frescoes and wall paintings is also often difficult, as well as time consuming, to document in detail using conventional recording techniques. In this test, six square meters of a section of a fresco at the Hippodrome was scanned to illustrate the applications of 3-D imaging for this type of documentation.
    C-5. Byzantine Lion Head Gargoyle

    A lion head gargoyle was also scanned to illustrate how quickly and accurately the Large Field of View scanner can be used to record a typical architectural feature which contains complex shape and detail.

     

     

    Acknowledgement: The authors would like to acknowledge Marc Rioux, J-Angelo Beraldin, Sabry El-Hakim, François Blais and Guy Godin of the Visual Information Technology Group at NRC for their work in developing the Large Field of View scanner system used in this project.  

    The Visual Information Technology Group of the Institute for Information Technology at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has developed several 3-D digital laser scanner imaging systems which can be used for high resolution heritage recording applications.

    (*) Note:  this demo was reduced in size to fit onto the GraDoc demo CD. Consequently, some "POL" and "VRML" files are not included in this demo.

     © Copyright 1999 NRC - Visual Information Technology

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