Gerhard Ehgartner / Hubert Schöndorfer / Harald Suitner
(GEOID Geographic Information and Data Management, Salzburg, Austria)
The objectives of LASCADO are to capture data of World Heritage sites by means of the latest 3D laserscan technology, to process this data for further scientific archiving and documentation, to build up a digital global data archive of our World Heritage, and to transform the captured data into information which can be disseminated to the interested public via various media (Atlas, DVD, web). Depending on the objective and the related level of data detail (LoD) various target groups can be identified such as (i) conservation authorities (primary data, LoD1), (ii) UNESCO and/or scientific research (primary/secondary data – LoD1, 2), (iii) public, private users, industry (tertiary data – LoD3).
Technical solutions – Data capture: Campaigns are executed with LMS-Z420i in combination with Nikon D10 and appropriate software. 3D documentation including digital terrain models (DTM) of World Cultural Heritage sites are generated (panorama scans, detailed scans, image acquisition). Resulting point clouds with millimeter resolution are be triangulated and visualised. Additional data sources such as satellite data, aerial images, archaeological maps are integrated into a GIS. Criteria and technical requirements for a (global) database and archiving solution have been and will be further developed.
Technical solutions in visualisation comprise (i) virtual walks and fly through, (ii) reconstruction of historic scenarios, (iii) large scale simulations (overviews), (iv) virtual exposees (ancillary information, maps, plans, etc.). Languages such as VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) or X3D, GML and Java3D have made individual navigation in a computer-generated world a new experience for the user. The use and potential of these languages shall be further examined in the course of the project. Other VR-elements to be investigated are 3D game engines which offer real time 3D rendering combined with simple but logic navigation tools. User requirements (a.o.) are (i) compatibility of data interfaces and export possibilities, (ii) possibilities to ex post editing (in construction, level of detail, data volume and size), (iii) general usability, and (iv) variety of possible use cases.
Pedagogically valuable content is a major part in LASCADO. Apart from high tech solutions in captureing and archiving, World Cultural Heritage shall be disseminated to a wide public in an interesting and multilingual way.
Key words: 3D-Laserscanning – World Cultural Heritage – Levels of Detail – GIS – Archive – Documentation – Data-/Metadata development – Visualisation – Virtual Reality – VRML – Game Engines – Product development.