3D mass digitization: a milestone for archeological documentation

Abstract

In the heritage field, the demand for fast and efficient 3D digitization technologies for historic remains is increasing. Besides, 3D digitization has proved to be a promising approach to enable precise reconstructions of objects. Yet, unlike the digital acquisition of cultural goods in 2D widely used today, 3D digitization often still requires a significant investment of time and money. To make it more widely available to heritage institutions, the <em>Competence Center for Cultural Heritage Digitization</em> at the <em>Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD</em> has developed <em>CultLab3D</em>, the world’s first 3D mass digitization facility for collections of three-dimensional objects. <em>CultLab3D</em> is specifically designed to automate the entire 3D digitization process thus allowing to scan and archive objects on a large-scale. Moreover, scanning and lighting technologies are combined to capture the exact geometry, texture, and optical material properties of artefacts to produce highly accurate photo-realistic representations. The unique setup allows to shorten the time needed for digitization to several minutes per artefact instead of hours, as required by conventional 3D scanning methods.