Exploring the Possibilities of Immersive Reality Tools in Virtual Reconstruction of Monuments

Abstract

In the last decades digital technologies have been employed in the field of cultural heritage for various purposes. Immersive visualization, digital reconstruction of archaeological sites and findings and virtual reality applications are only a few potential tools available when studying the past. The aim of this paper is to present the digital reconstruction of an archaic column, a research conducted at the Digital Media Lab, Technical University of Crete, in coordination with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. The 3D models of five very heavy parts of an archaic column were used for studying and virtually reconstructing the complete column. The column was part of an archaic temple unique in size and in type for the area of Chania, in West Crete, Greece. Structure from Motion technique was applied for the reproduction of high quality and accurate digital models of five sandstone drums. Specifically Agisoft Photoscan software was combined with fast, easy and low cost equipment. Furthermore our research team is currently investigating ways to utilize immersive reality for the reconstruction of the archaic column. The five 3D models that were produced with the SfM, are being uploaded as.obj files into Google Tilt Brush. Subsequently the user can experiment by moving, rotating and scaling the individual 3D parts in a 3D environment in real time, in Vive HTC, thus drastically simplifying the digital reconstruction process for similar projects. Finally, a hypothetical façade and a plan view of a similar archaic temple were transcribed in opaque sketches and imported in the immersive reality environment in order to serve as the canvas on which the 3D reconstruction of the column can take place in real scale.