Virtual reconstruction of the 400 toneladas nao from Diego García de Palacio’s Instrucción náutica (1587)

The period between 1570-1620 has left a remarkable amount of documents related to shipbuilding in the Iberian Peninsula. Among them, the Instrucción nautica written by Diego García de Palacio in 1587 is widely recognized as the first published book that includes an extensive discussion of ship design and construction. García de Palacio centres his discussion on a 400 toneladas nao, a series of woodcuts that illustrate the shape and dimensions of the ship accompany the explanation. In the late XVI century ship hulls were designed following procedures based upon an old shipwrightry tradition born in the Mediterranean. By simple rules the master shipwright plots the central frame and tail frames and complete the hull body using wooden ribbands. Computer software for 3D modelling using NURBs surfaces helps to recreate ships hulls. In this work the 400 toneladas nao is reconstructed and her hydrostatic parameters are compared with other ships.

Knowledge-based Virtual Reconstruction of Museum Artifacts

Within the framework of heritage preservation, 3D scanning and modeling for heritage documentation has increased significantly in recent years, mainly due to the evolution of laser and image-based techniques, modeling software, powerful computers and virtual reality. 3D laser acquisition constitutes a real development opportunity for 3D modeling based previously on theoretical data. The representation of the object information rely on the knowledge of its historic and theoretical frame to reconstitute a posteriori its previous states. This project proposes an approach dealing with data extraction based on architectural knowledge and Laser statement informing measurements, the whole leading to 3D reconstruction. The experimented Khmer objects are exposed at Guimet museum in Paris. The purpose of this digital modeling meets the need of exploitable models for simulation projects, prototyping, exhibitions, promoting cultural tourism and particularly for archiving against any likely disaster and as an aided tool for the formulation of virtual museum concept.

Virtual Reconstruction of the Ancient Russian Fortress Koporye

One of the major strategic tasks in Russia’s northwest of the past centuries was the defense of the country’s territories from enemy incursions coming from the West. In order to solve this task, a robust shield in the form of a system of fortresses was created between the 13th and 15th centuries. The system included such fortresses as Koporye, Yam, Korela, Oreshek, and others. In our age, these monuments have become an essential part of Russia’s historic and cultural heritage and an important element of the tourism cluster “The Silver Ring of Russia.” The Centre of Design and Multimedia at St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, jointly with the Department of History and the Faculty of Arts at St. Petersburg State University, working under a three-year grant from the Russian Foundation for Humanities Research (#12-01-12041), is implementing a multimedia information system “Ancient Fortresses of Russia’s Northwest”. Historically accurate virtual reconstruction of several fortresses as they existed during certain historic periods, done in such a way as to allow the future creation of virtual tours of these sites, has become the focus of this project’s research. In the present paper, we describe the main phases and results of virtual reconstruction of the best-preserved fortress, Koporye.

3D Reconstruction and Digital Visualization of the South of the Royal Palace in Great Preslav

The report presents the film 10th century. The South of the Royal Palace in Great Preslav. It consists of two parts – 10th century. The Royal Palace in Great Prelsav. The Square with the Pinnacle and The Ruler’s Lodgings. 3D and virtual reconstructions of an architectural ensemble – part of the Preslav Royal Court unearthed during archaeological researches are used in the film. 3D documentaries have already gained popularity around the world and are well received by both scholars and the public at large. One of the distinguished tourist destinations in Bulgaria is Great Preslav – capital of the mediaeval Bulgarian state and a significant cultural center of the European Southeast in 9th–10th centuries, too. The first part of the film is created with the financial support of America for Bulgaria Foundation and the second – with the funding of Bulgarian National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science. A team of almost 20 members worked on the film, including computer specialists, professional actors, and translators in the four main European languages – English, German, French and Russian, Trima Sound Recording Studio. In the first part of the 3D film are shown a segment of the Royal Palace, the square with the water pinnacle and the adjacent buildings – an important structural element of the town-planning of the Preslav Court center in the 10th century. In the second part the accent is the southern part of the Royal Palace in Great Preslav, where the personal residence of the Preslav ruler’s dynasty is situated. The work on the virtual reconstruction was done by Virtual Archaeology club at the Mathematical School, Shumen. Due to the efforts of its members it is now clear how the square in front of the southern gate looked like.

When the virtual influences reality. The conservation project of the toledo gate in ciudad real (Spain)

The Toledo Gate of Ciudad Real, Spain, constructed between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, is the last remaining portion of a once complete medieval city wall. It represents the long history of the city and constitutes its main heritage symbol, dividing the historic city centre from the later 19th and 20th century expansions. In October 2012, the Town Hall and the Montemadrid Foundation started the conservation works to preserve this important monument. The preliminary phase of this project included an in-depth series of scientific studies which were carried out by a multidisciplinary team focusing on archival research, historic investigations, archaeological excavations as well as material composition analysis and main treatment application tests. As a result of these studies a series of virtual 3D models were created to inform, discuss and study the monument. A first digital model permitted visualization of the gate in the 19th century and how the main entrance to the city was integrated as a fundamental part of the city walls. This virtual reconstruction also became an important part of the campaign to raise awareness among the citizens towards a monument that had remained in the shadows for the last century, isolated in a roundabout after the systematic demolition of the city walls in the late 19th century. Over the last three years and as a result of these archaeological and historic investigations and subsequent virtual models, surprisingly new and interesting data were brought to light thus permitting the establishment and corroboration of a new and updated hypothesis of the Toledo Gate that goes beyond the previous ideas. As a result of these studies a new architectural typology with construction techniques of has been suggested. This paper describes how the results of this continuous and interdisciplinary documentation process have benefitted from a computer graphic reconstruction of the gate. It highlights how virtual reconstruction can be a powerful tool for conservation decision making and awareness raising. Furthermore, the interesting results of the final reconstruction hypothesis convinced the technical team responsible for the conservation to alter some aspects of the final project physical interventions in order to focus on some of the features and conclusions discovered through the virtual model study.

Il concetto di sezione nel metodo compositivo di Aldo Rossi.

Purpose of this research is to deepen the study on the section in architecture. The survey aims as important elements in the project Teatro Domestico by Aldo Rossi built for the XVII Triennale di Milano in 1986 and, through the implementation on several topics of architecture, verify the timeliness and fertility in the new compositional exercises. Through the study of certain areas of the Rossi’s theory we tried to find a common thread for the reading of the theater project. The theater is the place of the ephemeral and the artificial, which is why his destiny is the end and the fatal loss. The design and construction of theater setting has always had a double meaning between the value of civil architecture and testing of new technologies available. Rossi's experience in this area are clear examples of the inseparable relationship between the representation of architecture as art and design of architecture as a model of reality. In the Teatro Domestico, the distinction between representation and the real world is constantly canceled and returned through the reversal of the meaning and through the skip of scale. At present, studies conducted on the work of Rossi concern the report that the architectural composition is the theory of form, focusing compositional development of a manufacturing process between the typological analysis and form invention. The research, through the analysis of some projects few designs, will try to analyze this issue through the rules of composition both graphical and concrete construction, hoping to decipher the mechanism underlying the invention. The almost total lack of published material on the project Teatro Domestico and the opportunity to visit the archives that preserve the drawings, has allowed the author of this study to deepen the internal issues in the project, thus placing this search as a first step toward possible further analysis on the works of Rossi linked to performance world. The final aim is therefore to produce material that can best describe the work of Rossi. Through the reading of the material published by the same author and the vision of unpublished material preserved in the archives, it was possible to develop new material and increasing knowledge about the work, otherwise difficult to analyze. The research is divided into two groups. The first, taking into account the close relationship most frequently mentioned by Rossi himself between archeology and architectural composition, stresses the importance of tipo such as urban composition reading system as well as open tool of invention. Resuming Ezio Bonfanti’s essay on the work of the architect we wanted to investigate how the paratactic method is applied to the early work conceived and, subsequently as the process reaches a complexity accentuated, while keeping stable the basic terms. Following a brief introduction related to the concept of the section and the different interpretations that over time the term had, we tried to identify with this facility a methodology for reading Rossi’s projects. The result is a constant typological interpretation of the term, not only related to the composition in plant but also through the elevation plans. The section is therefore intended as the overturning of such elevation is marked on the same plane of the terms used, there is a different approach, but a similarity of characters. The identification of architectural phonemes allows comparison with other arts. The research goes in the direction of language trying to identify the relationship between representation and construction, between the ephemeral and the real world. In this sense it will highlight the similarities between the graphic material produced by Ross and some important examples of contemporary author. The comparison between the composition system with the surrealist world of painting and literature will facilitate the understanding and identification of possible rules applied by Rossi. The second part of the research is characterized by a focus on the intent of the project chosen. Teatro Domestico embodies a number of elements that seem to conclude (assuming an end point but also to start) a curriculum author. With it, the experiments carried out on the theater started with the project for the Teatrino Scientifico (1978) through the project for the Teatro del Mondo (1979), into a Laic Tabernacle representative collective and private memory of the city. Starting from a reading of the draft, through the collection of published material, we’ve made an analysis on the explicit themes of the work, finding the conceptual references. Following the taking view of the original materials not published kept at Aldo Rossi's Archive Collection of the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montréal, will be implemented through the existing techniques for digital representation, a virtual reconstruction of the project, adding little to the material, a new element for future studies. The reconstruction is part of a larger research studies where the current technologies of composition and representation in architecture stand side by side with research on the method of composition of this architect. The results achieved are in addition to experiences in the past dealt with the reconstruction of some of the lost works of Aldo Rossi. A partial objective is to reactivate a discourse around this work is considered non-principal, among others born in the prolific activities. Reassessment of development projects which would bring the level of ephemeral works most frequented by giving them the value earned. In conclusion, the research aims to open a new field of interest on the part not only as a technical instrument of representation of an idea but as an actual mechanism through which composition is formed and the idea is developed.

Il linguaggio degli ambienti virtuali culturali: comunicare la storia di Bologna attraverso il progetto Nu.M.E.

The contemporary media landscape is characterized by the emergence of hybrid forms of digital communication that contribute to the ongoing redefinition of our societies cultural context. An incontrovertible consequence of this phenomenon is the new public dimension that characterizes the transmission of historical knowledge in the twenty-first century. Awareness of this new epistemic scenario has led us to reflect on the following methodological questions: what strategies should be created to establish a communication system, based on new technology, that is scientifically rigorous, but at the same time engaging for the visitors of museums and Internet users? How does a comparative analysis of ancient documentary sources form a solid base of information for the virtual reconstruction of thirteenth century Bologna in the Metaverse? What benefits can the phenomenon of cross-mediality give to the virtual heritage? The implementation of a new version of the Nu.M.E. project allowed for answering many of these instances. The investigation carried out between 2008 and 2010 has shown that, indeed, real-time 3D graphics and collaborative virtual environments can be feasible tools for representing philologically the urban medieval landscape and for communicating properly validated historical data to the general public. This research is focused on the study and implementation of a pipeline that permits mass communication of historical information about an area of vital importance in late medieval Bologna: Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. The originality of the developed project is not limited solely to the methodological dimension of historical research. Adopted technological perspective is an excellent example of innovation that digital technologies can bring to the cultural heritage. The main result of this research is the creation of Nu.ME 2010, a cross-media system of 3D real-time visualization based on some of the most advanced free software and open source technologies available today free of charge.

Geometric documentation of the flour factory "El Puente Colgante" in Aranjuez (Madrid).

The goal of this communication is to offer, through computer-aided design tools, a methodology to recover and virtually reconstruct disappeared buildings of our industrial historical heritage. It will be applied to the case of the flour factory "El Puente Colgante" (The Suspended Bridge) in Aranjuez, which was demolished in 2001. The process is as follows: After a historical analysis of the evolution in time of the flour factory, a field work provides data allowing an info graphic reconstruction of the factory. Once this information has been processed, a lifting of the current state is made with AutoCAD, and a three-dimensional model is built with the Rhinoceros application. Then images of the ensemble are obtained with the applications Rhinoceros and V-Ray, ending with a postproduction with Photoshop. The proposed methodology has permitted to obtain a three-dimensional model of the flour factory ?El Puente Colgante? in Aranjuez, with an accurate virtual reconstruction of its original state prior to demolition. The procedure exposed is susceptible to be generalized for any other example of industrial architecture.

A Comparative Study of Registration Methods for RGB-D Video of Static Scenes

The use of RGB-D sensors for mapping and recognition tasks in robotics or, in general, for virtual reconstruction has increased in recent years. The key aspect of these kinds of sensors is that they provide both depth and color information using the same device. In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of the most important methods used in the literature for the registration of subsequent RGB-D video frames in static scenarios. The analysis begins by explaining the characteristics of the registration problem, dividing it into two representative applications: scene modeling and object reconstruction. Then, a detailed experimentation is carried out to determine the behavior of the different methods depending on the application. For both applications, we used standard datasets and a new one built for object reconstruction.

Design and Development of a Research Framework for Prototyping Control Tower Augmented Reality Tools

The purpose of the air traffic management system is to ensure the safe and efficient flow of air traffic. Therefore, while augmenting efficiency, throughput and capacity in airport operations, attention has rightly been placed on doing it in a safe manner. In the control tower, many advances in operational safety have come in the form of visualization tools for tower controllers. However, there is a paradox in developing such systems to increase controllers' situational awareness: by creating additional computer displays, the controller's vision is pulled away from the outside view and the time spent looking down at the monitors is increased. This reduces their situational awareness by forcing them to mentally and physically switch between the head-down equipment and the outside view. This research is based on the idea that augmented reality may be able to address this issue. The augmented reality concept has become increasingly popular over the past decade and is being proficiently used in many fields, such as entertainment, cultural heritage, aviation, military & defense. This know-how could be transferred to air traffic control with a relatively low effort and substantial benefits for controllers’ situation awareness. Research on this topic is consistent with SESAR objectives of increasing air traffic controllers’ situation awareness and enable up to 10 % of additional flights at congested airports while still increasing safety and efficiency. During the Ph.D., a research framework for prototyping augmented reality tools was set up. This framework consists of methodological tools for designing the augmented reality overlays, as well as of hardware and software equipment to test them. Several overlays have been designed and implemented in a simulated tower environment, which is a virtual reconstruction of Bologna airport control tower. The positive impact of such tools was preliminary assessed by means of the proposed methodology.

Are virtual planning and guided surgery for head and neck reconstruction economically viable?

PURPOSE: Virtual planning and guided surgery with or without prebent or milled plates are becoming more and more common for mandibular reconstruction with fibular free flaps (FFFs). Although this excellent surgical option is being used more widely, the question of the additional cost of planning and cutting-guide production has to be discussed. In capped payment systems such additional costs have to be offset by other savings if there are no special provisions for extra funding. Our study was designed to determine whether using virtual planning and guided surgery resulted in time saved during surgery and whether this time gain resulted in self-funding of such planning through the time saved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All consecutive cases of FFF surgery were evaluated during a 2-year period. Institutional data were used to determine the price of 1 minute of operative time. The time for fibula molding, plate adaptation, and insetting was recorded. RESULTS: During the defined period, we performed 20 mandibular reconstructions using FFFs, 9 with virtual planning and guided surgery and 11 freehand cases. One minute of operative time was calculated to cost US $47.50. Multiplying this number by the time saved, we found that the additional cost of virtual planning was reduced from US $5,098 to US $1,231.50 with a prebent plate and from US $6,980 to US $3,113.50 for a milled plate. CONCLUSIONS: Even in capped health care systems, virtual planning and guided surgery including prebent or milled plates are financially viable.

Multi-view 3D reconstruction using virtual cameras

Ce mémoire s'intéresse à la reconstruction d'un modèle 3D à partir de plusieurs images. Le modèle 3D est élaboré avec une représentation hiérarchique de voxels sous la forme d'un octree. Un cube englobant le modèle 3D est calculé à partir de la position des caméras. Ce cube contient les voxels et il définit la position de caméras virtuelles. Le modèle 3D est initialisé par une enveloppe convexe basée sur la couleur uniforme du fond des images. Cette enveloppe permet de creuser la périphérie du modèle 3D. Ensuite un coût pondéré est calculé pour évaluer la qualité de chaque voxel à faire partie de la surface de l'objet. Ce coût tient compte de la similarité des pixels provenant de chaque image associée à la caméra virtuelle. Finalement et pour chacune des caméras virtuelles, une surface est calculée basée sur le coût en utilisant la méthode de SGM. La méthode SGM tient compte du voisinage lors du calcul de profondeur et ce mémoire présente une variation de la méthode pour tenir compte des voxels précédemment exclus du modèle par l'étape d'initialisation ou de creusage par une autre surface. Par la suite, les surfaces calculées sont utilisées pour creuser et finaliser le modèle 3D. Ce mémoire présente une combinaison innovante d'étapes permettant de créer un modèle 3D basé sur un ensemble d'images existant ou encore sur une suite d'images capturées en série pouvant mener à la création d'un modèle 3D en temps réel.

Accident or homicide - virtual crime scene reconstruction using 3D methods

The analysis and reconstruction of forensically relevant events, such as traffic accidents, criminal assaults and homicides are based on external and internal morphological findings of the injured or deceased person. For this approach high-tech methods are gaining increasing importance in forensic investigations. The non-contact optical 3D digitising system GOM ATOS is applied as a suitable tool for whole body surface and wound documentation and analysis in order to identify injury-causing instruments and to reconstruct the course of event. In addition to the surface documentation, cross-sectional imaging methods deliver medical internal findings of the body. These 3D data are fused into a whole body model of the deceased. Additional to the findings of the bodies, the injury inflicting instruments and incident scene is documented in 3D. The 3D data of the incident scene, generated by 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry, is also included into the reconstruction. Two cases illustrate the methods. In the fist case a man was shot in his bedroom and the main question was, if the offender shot the man intentionally or accidentally, as he declared. In the second case a woman was hit by a car, driving backwards into a garage. It was unclear if the driver drove backwards once or twice, which would indicate that he willingly injured and killed the woman. With this work, we demonstrate how 3D documentation, data merging and animation enable to answer reconstructive questions regarding the dynamic development of patterned injuries, and how this leads to a real data based reconstruction of the course of event.

3D facial merging for virtual human reconstruction

There is an increasing need of easy and affordable technologies to automatically generate virtual 3D models from their real counterparts. In particular, 3D human reconstruction has driven the creation of many clever techniques, most of them based on the visual hull (VH) concept. Such techniques do not require expensive hardware; however, they tend to yield 3D humanoids with realistic bodies but mediocre faces, since VH cannot handle concavities. On the other hand, structured light projectors allow to capture very accurate depth data, and thus to reconstruct realistic faces, but they are too expensive to use several of them. We have developed a technique to merge a VH-based 3D mesh of a reconstructed humanoid and the depth data of its face, captured by a single structured light projector. By combining the advantages of both systems in a simple setting, we are able to reconstruct realistic 3D human models with believable faces.