High-resolution digital 3D models of Algar do Penico Chamber: limitations, challenges, and potential

The study of karst and its geomorphological structures is important for understanding the relationships between hydrology and climate over geological time. In that context, we conducted a terrestrial laser-scan survey to map geomorphological structures in the karst cave of Algar do Penico in southern Portugal. The point cloud data set obtained was used to generate 3D meshes with different levels of detail, allowing the limitations of mapping capabilities to be explored. In addition to cave mapping, the study focuses on 3D-mesh analysis, including the development of two algorithms for determination of stalactite extremities and contour lines, and on the interactive visualization of 3D meshes on the Web. Data processing and analysis were performed using freely available open-source software. For interactive visualization, we adopted a framework based on Web standards X3D, WebGL, and X3DOM. This solution gives both the general public and researchers access to 3D models and to additional data produced from map tools analyses through a web browser, without the need for plug-ins

An Open-Source Web Platform for 3D Documentation and Storytelling of Hidden Cultural Heritage

The rapid evolution of the urban landscape highlights the need to digitally document the state and historical transformations of heritage sites in densely urbanised areas through the combination of different geomatics survey approaches. Moreover, it is necessary to raise awareness of sites by developing strategies for their dissemination to a diverse audience through engaging, interactive, and accessible 3D web platforms. This work illustrates a methodology for the digital documentation and narration of a cultural heritage site through the implementation of a lightweight and replicable 3D navigation platform based on open-source technologies. Such a solution aims to be an easy-to-implement low-cost approach. The methodology is applied to the case study of the Farnese Castle in Piacenza (Italy), describing the data collection and documentation carried out with an in situ survey and illustrating how the resulting products were integrated into the web platform. The exploration functionalities of the platform and its potential for different types of audiences, from experts to users not familiar with 3D objects and geomatics products, were evaluated and documented on a ReadTheDocs website, allowing interested users to reproduce the project for other applications thanks to the template code available on GitHub

Web-based visualization for 3D data in archaeology : The ADS 3D viewer

The solid geometry of archaeological deposits is fundamental to the interpretation of their chronological sequence. However, such stratigraphic sequences are generally viewed as static two-dimensional diagrammatic representations which are difficult to manipulate or to relate to real layers. The ADS 3D Viewer is a web-based resource for the management and analysis of archaeological data. The viewer was developed to take advantage of recent developments in web technology, namely the adoption of WebGL (Web Graphics Library) by current web browsers. The ADS 3D Viewer combines the potential of the 3D Heritage Online Presenter (3DHOP), a software package for the web-based visualization of 3D geometries, with the infrastructure of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS) repository, in the attempt to create a platform for the visualization and analysis of 3D data archived by the ADS. Two versions of the viewer have been developed to answer the needs of different users. The first version, the Object Level 3D Viewer, was implemented to extend the browsing capability of ADS project archives by enabling the visualization of single 3D models. The second version, the Stratigraphy 3D Viewer, is an extension which allows the exploration of a specific kind of aggregated data: the multiple layers of an archaeological stratigraphic sequence. This allows those unable to participate directly in the fieldwork to access, analyse and re-interpret the archaeological context remotely. This has the potential to transform the discipline, allowing inter-disciplinary, cross-border and ‘at-distance’ collaborative workflows, and enabling easier access to and analysis of archaeological data

GVLiDAR: an interactive web-based visualization framework to support geospatial measures on lidar data

[Abstract] In recent years lidar technology has experienced a noticeable increase in its relevance and usage in a number of scientific fields. Therefore, software capable of handling lidar data becomes a key point in those fields. In this article, we present GPU-based viewer lidar (GVLiDAR), a novel web framework for visualization and geospatial measurement of lidar data point sets. The design of the framework is focused on achieving three key objectives: performance in terms of real-time interaction, functionality, and online availability for the lidar datasets. All lidar files are pre-processed and stored in a lossless data structure, which minimizes transfer requirements and offers an on-demand lidar data web framework.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; GRC2013 / 055Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; R2014/049Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2013-42148-PMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2016-75845-

Virtual reality web application for automotive data visualization

Hoje em dia, a indústria de automóveis é uma das maiores empresas económicas em constante desenvolvimento no mundo inteiro. Inúmeras empresas necessitam de dados sobre a condução autónoma para aprender, testar e melhorar ao criar novos veículos. A condução autónoma vai desempenhar um grande papel no futuro, e o nosso objetivo é continuar este constante crescimento ao criar aplicações de visualização de dados que mostram resultados de experiências com veículos autónomos. Atualmente, existe uma aplicação na Altran, para visualizar dados online através do WebGL. No entanto, a visualização dos elementos e a sequência em 3D é confusa e não é compreensível o suficiente, como seria com a ajuda de realidade virtual. Isto acontece porque os elementos são disponibilizados como linhas, de acordo com a distância entre os objetos e o chão, em vez de suas formas reais. Além disto, a infraestrutura de dados pode conter um tamanho abundante de elementos, como nuvens de pontos e trajetórias, e a visualização destes elementos serão exibidos com mais eficácia, usando técnicas de realidade virtual. Isto também complementará a grande variedade atual de ferramentas relacionadas à demonstração de automóveis na Altran, contribuindo para apresentações públicas dentro da empresa. Para fortalecer esta visualização de dados 3D, espera-se criar uma aplicação, com a ajuda de técnicas de realidade virtual. A compatibilidade entre WebGL e WebXR será posta à prova e caso mostre ser bem sucedida, os dados da aplicação anteriormente mencionada serão reutilizados. Além de ser capaz de mostrar os dados necessários, essa nova estrutura de realidade virtual deverá manter as funcionalidades da aplicação WebGL e conter outras, como sustentar diferentes tipos de nuvens de pontos e carregar dados de várias fontes. A usabilidade dos dispositivos de realidade virtual e a sua performance será também avaliada, além de uma comparação detalhada entre ambas as aplicações.Nowadays, the automotive industry is one of the largest and continuously ongoing economic sectors in the world. Countless companies need and look for autonomous driving data to learn and test when creating new motor vehicles. Autonomous driving will play a big role in the future, and we can help continue its constant growth with with data visualization applications that display results of automotive experiments. Currently, there's an application in Altran, to visualize autonomous driving data online using WebGL. However, the showcasing of the elements and the sequence in 3D is confusing and not comprehensible enough, like it would be while using virtual reality. This happens as a result of the elements being displayed as lines according to their distance between the objects and the ground, instead of their real shapes. Since the data infrastructure can contain an abundant size of elements, like point-clouds and trajectories, the visualization of this data will be displayed more efficaciously, using virtual reality techniques. This will also complement the current large variety of tools concerning automotive demonstration in Altran, contributing to related public presentations in the company. To strengthen this 3D data visualization, this project aims to create a VR application that displays autonomous driving data. The compatibility between WebGL and WebXR will be tested, and in case this proves successful, the current structure of the application mentioned above will be reused. Besides being able to show the necessary automotive data, this new virtual reality structure, should maintain the functionalities of the WebGL application and contain extra features, like supporting different types of point-clouds and loading data from multiple sources. The usability of the Virtual Reality devices and its performance will also be evaluated, as well a comparison between the WebGL application

Developing an interoperable cloud-based visualization workflow for 3D archaeological heritage data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas

In archaeology, 3D data has become ubiquitous, as researchers routinely capture high resolution photogrammetry and LiDAR models and engage in laborious 3D analysis and reconstruction projects at every scale: artifacts, buildings, and entire sites. The raw data and processed 3D models are rarely shared as their computational dependencies leave them unusable by other scholars. In this paper we outline a novel approach for cloud-based collaboration, visualization, analysis, contextualization, and archiving of multi-modal giga-resolution archaeological heritage 3D data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas builds on an open source WebGL systems that efficiently interlink, merge, present, and contextualize the Big Data collected at the ancient Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, allowing researchers and stakeholders to visualize, access, share, measure, compare, annotate, and repurpose massive complex archaeological datasets from their web-browsers

3D DATA INTEGRATION FOR WEB BASED OPEN SOURCE WebGL INTERACTIVE VISUALISATION

Recent advances in open-source geospatial technologies in WebGIS allowed the visualization of a 3D complex environment on the web, exploiting realistic Globe reproduction of the real territorial asset. At the same time, in the field of gaming technologies, the new possibilities offered by open-source WebGL JavaScript libraries allowed the creation of Virtual Reality navigation models on the web. The integration between 3D GIS globe navigation models and VR environment navigation is a solution that offers a further level of detail in web navigation, exploiting the capabilities of web browsers in the best way. This research further contributes to this field, showing a workflow to integrate different 3D data in a VR and 3D WebGIS navigation model. The case study for this research is the new building of the University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) of Enschede (The Netherlands). This work tests the online integration of variety of 3D input data that can lead to different Levels of Details (LoD) of the buildings inside the Globe-based WebGIS platform. The developed solution works on desktop and mobile devices using the capabilities of the most common web browsers, avoiding any software installation. The result of this work is based on completely open-source solutions that offers the possibility to navigate within a 3D model, which is useful for citizens, governmental or private institutions in decision-making processes. This work represents a first step towards the ambition to generate a web Digital Twin platform to combine datasets from different sources in a unique open-source solution

Analysis of Visualisation and Interaction Tools Authors

This document provides an in-depth analysis of visualization and interaction tools employed in the context of Virtual Museum. This analysis is required to identify and design the tools and the different components that will be part of the Common Implementation Framework (CIF). The CIF will be the base of the web-based services and tools to support the development of Virtual Museums with particular attention to online Virtual Museum.The main goal is to provide to the stakeholders and developers an useful platform to support and help them in the development of their projects, despite the nature of the project itself. The design of the Common Implementation Framework (CIF) is based on an analysis of the typical workflow ofthe V-MUST partners and their perceived limitations of current technologies. This document is based also on the results of the V-MUST technical questionnaire (presented in the Deliverable 4.1). Based on these two source of information, we have selected some important tools (mainly visualization tools) and services and we elaborate some first guidelines and ideas for the design and development of the CIF, that shall provide a technological foundation for the V-MUST Platform, together with the V-MUST repository/repositories and the additional services defined in the WP4. Two state of the art reports, one about user interface design and another one about visualization technologies have been also provided in this document

Building Cultural Heritage Resilience through Remote Sensing: An Integrated Approach Using Multi-Temporal Site Monitoring, Datafication, and Web-GL Visualization

In the American West, wildfires and earthquakes are increasingly threatening the archaeological, historical, and tribal resources that define the collective identity and connection with the past for millions of Americans. The loss of said resources diminishes societal understanding of the role cultural heritage plays in shaping our present and future. This paper examines the viability of employing stationary and SLAM-based terrestrial laser scanning, close-range photogrammetry, automated surface change detection, GIS, and WebGL visualization techniques to enhance the preservation of cultural resources in California. Our datafication approach combines multi-temporal remote sensing monitoring of historic features with legacy data and collaborative visualization to document and evaluate how environmental threats affect built heritage. We tested our methodology in response to recent environmental threats from wildfire and earthquakes at Bodie, an iconic Gold Rush-era boom town located on the California and Nevada border. Our multi-scale results show that the proposed approach effectively integrates highly accurate 3D snapshots of Bodie’s historic buildings before/after disturbance, or post-restoration, with surface change detection and online collaborative visualization of 3D geospatial data to monitor and preserve important cultural resources at the site. This study concludes that the proposed workflow enhances the monitoring of at-risk California’s cultural heritage and makes a call to action to employ remote sensing as a pathway to advanced planning. View Full-Tex