3-D Digitization Methodologies for Cultural Artifacts

Background

Digitization of artifacts is the process of converting spatial and color information into digital formats. 3-D digitization refers specifically to creating a digital representation of an object in three spatial dimensions, that is, Cartesian x, y, and z coordinates. During 3-D digitization, depth, size, proportion, and textural information about the artifact are recorded and stored in electronic form.

There are a wide range of techniques available in the field of 3-D digitization. The specific approach to digitization differs depending on the artifact and the final intended application of the data. The overall process of 3-D digitization involves three broad steps, as shown in Figure 1. Data are acquired using a method of determining and recording the spatial details of the artifact. The raw data are then processed to form complete rendered 3-D models, and then the data are applied to its intended purpose.

Figure 1.

Overall digitization process

3-D digitization of artifacts is an effective method of archiving historic information. It is currently used within museums and other organizations for documentation and security purposes. Furthermore, electronic models give museums the ability to display digital models on the Internet, increasing public awareness and accessibility to the cultural artifacts. The models also facilitate the use of digital interactive displays within museums, allowing viewers to explore objects without risk of damaging the original artifact. Digital information can also be supplied to computer numerical control (CNC) machines to manufacture accurate replicas or support pieces for artifacts. A further application of digitized data is in analysis of artifacts for historical restoration.

Current Digitization Practices

A number of organizations, worldwide, are promoting research into the digitization of cultural artifacts. These include the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), the Virtual Heritage Acquisition and Presentation (ViHAP3D) project in Europe, and the Salzburg Research Institute (SRI) in Austria. Some museums are working in collaboration with universities to further research in digitization; in 2004, approximately 35% of museums, worldwide, had initiated developments in some form of 3-D digitization of objects (White, Mourkoussis, Darcy, Petridis, Liarokapis, Lister, et al., 2004). These include the Museum of New York, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Museum of Science Boston, and the American Museum of Natural History. Efforts to establish entire “virtual museums” include The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Research Council of Canada collaborating on the production of the Inuit3D Virtual museum, launched in April 2001, and the Computer Science Department of Zhejiang University developing a 3-D Dunhuang cultural relic exhibition system in 2004. (Zhang, Pan, Ren, & Wang, 2007)