Multi-camera lidar system for spatial and temporal preservation of the intangible cultural heritage

Abstract

Cultural heritage preservation is becoming increasingly important in today's culture and advancements in technology are enabling more effective preservation of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This paper proposes the development of a system for documenting intangible cultural heritage using multiple calibrated and synchronized LiDAR cameras for immersive and dynamic surveying of complex scenes. The prototype will be assembled using low-cost LiDAR sensors, specifically the Intel® RealSense™ L515. The system thanks to a higher number of devices will ensure full coverage of the scene to be acquired. The biggest development challenge is represented by the calibration phase, which, if carried out properly, allows the collection of a correctly oriented point cloud from each of the individual devices. The acquired point clouds will be recorded at a frequency of 30 Hz to create a dynamic and time-varying point cloud, which can then be viewed in a virtual reality environment. The affordability of the components used in the system combined with the higher completeness of data will enable the acquisition of scenes, actions, and events with a more comprehensive perspective. The goal is to lay the groundwork for the development of multi-platform and multi-sensor technologies capable of acquiring more data with a higher level of detail in intangible cultural heritage preservation efforts.