Graphic study and geovisualization of the old windmills of La Mancha (Spain)

In Spain, one can find geographical diversity and unique sites of great significance and cultural heritage. Many of the nation’s treasured places, however, have deteriorated or have even disappeared. What is left, then, should be studied and documented both graphically and infographically. It is important to preserve and document Spain’s unique locations, especially those related to vernacular heritage, to transhumance and visual impact assessment in many national infrastructures projects. Windmills are important examples of agro-industrial heritage and are sometimes found in the beds of streams and rivers but can also be found high in the hills. Their presence is constant throughout the Iberian Peninsula. These mills are no longer in use due to technological advances and the emergence of new grinding systems. The aim of this study was to present a specific methodology for the documentation of windmills, to create a graphical representation using computer graphics, as well as to disseminate knowledge of this agro-industrial heritage. This research has integrated graphic materials, including freehand sketches, photographs, digital orthophotos, computer graphics and multimedia in the creation of a specific methodology based on cutting-edge technology such as a digital photogrammetric workstation (DPW), global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), computer-aided design (CAD) and computer animation

Visual communication in urban planning and urban design

This report documents the current status of visual communication in urban design and planning. Visual communication is examined through discussion of standalone and network media, specifically concentrating on visualisation on the World Wide Web(WWW).Firstly, we examine the use of Solid and Geometric Modelling for visualising urban planning and urban design. This report documents and compares examples of the use of Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) and proprietary WWW based Virtual Reality modelling software. Examples include the modelling of Bath and Glasgow using both VRML 1.0 and 2.0. A review is carried out on the use of Virtual Worldsand their role in visualising urban form within multi-user environments. The use of Virtual Worlds is developed into a case study of the possibilities and limitations of Virtual Internet Design Arenas (ViDAs), an initiative undertaken at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London. The use of Virtual Worlds and their development towards ViDAs is seen as one of the most important developments in visual communication for urban planning and urban design since the development plan.Secondly, photorealistic media in the process of communicating plans is examined.The process of creating photorealistic media is documented, examples of the Virtual Streetscape and Wired Whitehall Virtual Urban Interface System are provided. The conclusion is drawn that although the use of photo-realistic media on the WWW provides a way to visually communicate planning information, its use is limited. The merging of photorealistic media and solid geometric modelling is reviewed in the creation of Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is seen to provide an important step forward in the ability to quickly and easily visualise urban planning and urban design information.Thirdly, the role of visual communication of planning data through GIS is examined interms of desktop, three dimensional and Internet based GIS systems. The evolution to Internet GIS is seen as a critical component in the development of virtual cities which will allow urban planners and urban designers to visualise and model the complexity of the built environment in networked virtual reality.Finally a viewpoint is put forward of the Virtual City, linking Internet GIS with photorealistic multi-user Virtual Worlds. At present there are constraints on how far virtual cities can be developed, but a view is provided on how these networked virtual worlds are developing to aid visual communication in urban planning and urban design

ITEM: Inter-Texture Error Measurement for 3D Meshes

We introduce a simple and innovative method to compare any two texture maps, regardless of their sizes, aspect ratios, or even masks, as long as they are both meant to be mapped onto the same 3D mesh. Our system is based on a zero-distortion 3D mesh unwrapping technique which compares two new adapted texture atlases with the same mask but different texel colors, and whose every texel covers the same area in 3D. Once these adapted atlases are created, we measure their difference with ITEM-RMSE, a slightly modified version of the standard RMSE defined for images. ITEM-RMSE is more meaningful and reliable than RMSE because it only takes into account the texels inside the mask, since they are the only ones that will actually be used during rendering. Our method is not only very useful to compare the space efficiency of different texture atlas generation algorithms, but also to quantify texture loss in compression schemes for multi-resolution textured 3D meshes

Impact of haptic 'touching' technology on cultural applications

No abstract available

Documentation of landslides and inaccessible parts of a mine using an unmanned uav system and methods of digital terrestrial photogrammetry

Quite a big boom has recently been experienced in the technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). In conjunction with dense matching system, it gives one a powerful tool for the creation of digital terrain models and orthophotomaps. This system was used for the documentation of landslides and inaccessible parts of the Nástup Tušimice mine in the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin (Czech Republic). The images were taken by the GATEWING X100 unmanned system that automatically executed photo flights an area of interest. For detailed documentation of selected parts of the mine, we used the method of digital terrestrial photogrammetry. The main objective was to find a suitable measurement technology for operational targeting of landslides and inaccessible parts of the mine, in order to prepare the basics for remediation work