1 research outputs found
3D photogrammetric data modeling and optimization for multipurpose analysis and representation of Cultural Heritage assets
This research deals with the issues concerning the processing, managing, representation
for further dissemination of the big amount of 3D data today achievable and storable with
the modern geomatic techniques of 3D metric survey. In particular, this thesis is focused
on the optimization process applied to 3D photogrammetric data of Cultural Heritage
assets.
Modern Geomatic techniques enable the acquisition and storage of a big amount of data,
with high metric and radiometric accuracy and precision, also in the very close range
field, and to process very detailed 3D textured models. Nowadays, the photogrammetric
pipeline has well-established potentialities and it is considered one of the principal
technique to produce, at low cost, detailed 3D textured models.
The potentialities offered by high resolution and textured 3D models is today well-known
and such representations are a powerful tool for many multidisciplinary purposes, at
different scales and resolutions, from documentation, conservation and restoration to
visualization and education. For example, their sub-millimetric precision makes them
suitable for scientific studies applied to the geometry and materials (i.e. for structural and
static tests, for planning restoration activities or for historical sources); their high fidelity
to the real object and their navigability makes them optimal for web-based visualization
and dissemination applications. Thanks to the improvement made in new visualization
standard, they can be easily used as visualization interface linking different kinds of
information in a highly intuitive way. Furthermore, many museums look today for more
interactive exhibitions that may increase the visitors’ emotions and many recent
applications make use of 3D contents (i.e. in virtual or augmented reality applications and
through virtual museums).
What all of these applications have to deal with concerns the issue deriving from the
difficult of managing the big amount of data that have to be represented and navigated.
Indeed, reality based models have very heavy file sizes (also tens of GB) that makes them
difficult to be handled by common and portable devices, published on the internet or
managed in real time applications. Even though recent advances produce more and more
sophisticated and capable hardware and internet standards, empowering the ability to
easily handle, visualize and share such contents, other researches aim at define a common
pipeline for the generation and optimization of 3D models with a reduced number of
polygons, however able to satisfy detailed radiometric and geometric requests.
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This thesis is inserted in this scenario and focuses on the 3D modeling process of
photogrammetric data aimed at their easy sharing and visualization. In particular, this
research tested a 3D models optimization, a process which aims at the generation of Low
Polygons models, with very low byte file size, processed starting from the data of High
Poly ones, that nevertheless offer a level of detail comparable to the original models. To
do this, several tools borrowed from the game industry and game engine have been used.
For this test, three case studies have been chosen, a modern sculpture of a contemporary
Italian artist, a roman marble statue, preserved in the Civic Archaeological Museum of
Torino, and the frieze of the Augustus arch preserved in the city of Susa (Piedmont-
Italy). All the test cases have been surveyed by means of a close range photogrammetric
acquisition and three high detailed 3D models have been generated by means of a
Structure from Motion and image matching pipeline. On the final High Poly models
generated, different optimization and decimation tools have been tested with the final aim
to evaluate the quality of the information that can be extracted by the final optimized
models, in comparison to those of the original High Polygon one. This study showed how
tools borrowed from the Computer Graphic offer great potentialities also in the Cultural
Heritage field. This application, in fact, may meet the needs of multipurpose and
multiscale studies, using different levels of optimization, and this procedure could be
applied to different kind of objects, with a variety of different sizes and shapes, also on
multiscale and multisensor data, such as buildings, architectural complexes, data from
UAV surveys and so on