Digital Past 2014

Re-creating Lost Heritage: Automated Photogrammetry on Archived Images

Andrew Wilson from the School of Computer Science at Bangor University will be presenting 'the Alternative Views Project'. This project aims to recreate the three-dimensionality of lost heritage assets from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust's photographic archive and Bangor University's archaeological slide collection through the use of 3D photogrammetric rendering.

Modern photogrammetric software solutions allow automated 3D rendering of objects from several 2D pictures taken of the object at random angles and distances. Using such solutions to create 3D renderings of excavation trenches and other objects through modern photography has been successfully tested in the past few years, but this is the first project to test the techniques on archival photographs.

Images of sites and monuments that have been destroyed or significantly altered were prioritised, with a preference for those with a series of images taken at the same time. The presentation will cover the complications caused by the fact that the archived images were developed over a long period and were created by differing technologies. Andrew will also discuss the possibility of combining images into one rendering process to successfully create a 3D model of the heritage asset.