[Yr11 Information Technology] Fwd: 3-D Object Digital Access Project

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Could anybody help with this request from a University researcher?
Looks like an interesting bit of hardware and software to digitize
cultural artifacts. Feel free to forward it on.

Reminds of this high-tech 3D scanner that I spotted on the
Instructables website made using just lego and milk. :-)
     http://www.instructables.com/id/Milkscanner-V1.0/

Regards Roland

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Richard Collmann" <r.collmann at unimelb.edu.au>
To: office at vitta.org.au
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:55:54 PM (GMT+1000) Auto-Detected
Subject: 3-D Object Digital Access Project

Dear Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association

I am a researcher at the University of Melbourne co-ordinating the
development of a novel digital photographic object rig and integrated
software which will enable the semi-automatic capture and creation of
3-D movie files of any small(ish) object, and the incorporation of
these files in multimedia web resources.

I would like to find anyone who might be interested in giving me some
advice during hardware fabrication in 2008 and trialing the resulting
equipment to assess its feasibility for routine classroom use.  This
might also involve (if desired) collaboration in future grant
applications and co-authorship of academic papers detailing the
development and testing process.

Following as a postscript is both a short and a longer project
description; attached is a VR-type representation of our design. You
might wish to circulate these, but could I ask you not to publish in a
publicly-accessible form? We (LaTrobe and Melbourne) might find in the
future we have some intellectual property rights we wish to protect –
especially the design.

Thank you and regards,

Richard Collmann
Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation
University of Melbourne
03 8344 4067
0401 920 464


SHORT DESCRIPTION:
3-D Object Digital Access Project (3-DODAP)

This project will develop and produce an innovative 3-Dimensional
digital imaging hardware and software system for any physical object,
particularly artefacts of historical and/or cultural significance.

Input to the system is any physical object of volume up to ~one cubic
metre and mass up to ~30 kilograms. The output is rich-content digital
multimedia web-based resources featuring a rotatable 3-D image movie
file of the object embedded in surrounding text, audio and video
commentary and explanation provided by the users. The web resource can
be published on CD/DVD or on-line.

The intended audience/user groups are P-12 school, TAFE and university
students, cultural institutions, disability, youth and community
groups, including remote and regional communities.

We envision two main uses:

(i) Community groups, art galleries and museums can use the system to
produce multimedia resources to reach a much wider (in fact, global)
audience. This would allow the dissemination (for instance) of objects
which for reasons of fragility or inaccessability are rarely seen by
those not within these groups or institutions.

(ii) Use by P-12, TAFE and university teachers to instruct students in
many levels of digital multimedia production techniques. Training in
the use of the equipment will develop skills of mechanical
manipulation, digital photography and multimedia web design and
production, thus developing familiarity with the use of these
increasingly-common technologies. This will build self-confidence on
the part of the student in their ability to master a step-by-step
procedure involving the learning and deployment of these different
skills.

All members of the community can potentially benefit from the
practical outcomes this imaging system will deliver.

LONGER DESCRIPTION:
3-D Object Digital Access Project (3-DODAP)

We will develop an innovative, self-contained, portable, modular
hardware/software imaging system, the 3-D Object Digital Access
System, to enable the 3-D digital image capture and description of any
3-D object, particularly historical/cultural artefacts, for the
purpose of widespread teaching, research and training. After
processing and assimilation by means of a semi-automatic web page
editor, the contextualised 3-D images will be displayed and widely
disseminated using web technology, both on-line and via CD/DVD.

The primary visual feature of the constructed web pages will be
fully-rotatable 3-D
object images, with salient features identified  by 'hot spots':
highlighted, annotated areas on objects, hyperlinked to descriptive
and explanatory text, audio files and other image files, both static
and moving and other (e.g. database) files  - 'rich multimedia
content'. The objects imaged will include both those of common
occurence which have not before been imaged and, importantly, those
which for reasons of rarity, fragility or inaccessibility are
infrequently encountered in everyday experience.

It will promote, enhance, and enrich positive learning outcomes and
experiences in education and training for students from primary to
tertiary level, and the broad general community, especially young
people, of all backgrounds and capabilities. It will particularly
improve the efficiency of providing distance learning education and
training to rural and remote schools and communities in Australia and
overseas. It will also be invaluable for current and future research
into, and the preservation and recording of, a large number and
variety of cultural artefacts for the benefit of future generations.

The range of material objects suitable for imaging is limited only by
the imagination and discovery of such objects by potential users.
Examples our project participants have identified, have immediate
access to, and have already priority-listed include the large but
widely-dispersed historical and contemporary ceramics collections in
private collections, Victorian metropolitan and regional art galleries
and indigenous collections (e.g. Strehlow Collection, Hermannsburg
community) in the Northern Territory and elsewhere in Australia.

The use of 3-D object imaging to date has been conducted using large
(room-sized) static hardware rigs with significantly complex electric
power and computer infrastructure. The 3-D moving image files produced
have had specialised application and have been largely retained within
the originating university departments and institutions.

Our portable and self-contained system will allow a wide variety of
people in almost any location to create and present, using a
straightforward semi-automated process, digital 3-D information
resources about subjects of interest to a broader audience than
previously possible.

There is currently no software or hardware that adequately fulfil our
goal and design requirements as a self-contained integrated system,
although the individual components of the system we are building rely
on well-proven technology.

It is only within the last decade that the digital technology that we
intend to employ has become widely-accepted and familiarly-used in
educational, community and domestic computer contexts so as to no
longer require special technical knowledge or facilities. This allows
the design of a system to be operated by non-expert users.

We expect widespread adoption of the 3-D Object Digital Access System
as benefits and utility are recognised and understood through the
provision on loan of, and full technical and procedural description
of, the object rigs to user groups and by positive publicity generated
through the media following the creation and publication of novel
multimedia resources.

Several prototypes of the hardware and software to be integrated into
the final version of the system will be made available during the
development period to our project participants for institutional
objective testing and classroom trialing.

Categories of use:

Teaching: used directly in primary to tertiary environments, both for
explanatory purposes in the established curriculum and for student
training in and development of digital photography skills, suitable
subject analysis and selection, and web page creation and publishing
techniques.  In its function as a training tool, the system will
assist students to develop a growing self-confidence in their ability
to create rich content multimedia resources centred on objects both of
their own immediate experience, and those unfamiliar and otherwise
inaccessible. Primary and secondary school teacher and student
participation in project development will ensure that this novel
visual tool system will be relevant to the syllabus and rapidly
incorporated into routine classroom use.

Research: high-resolution imaging will enable research into object
morphology, materials, construction and decoration of objects imaged
at off-site and remote locations. It can be used by the academic
disciplines of history, museum studies, materials conservation, art
history, archaeology, anthropology, dentistry, anatomy, linguistics,
architecture, botany, zoology, town planning, art practice and
interior design in both laboratory and in-field locations.

Exhibitions: as part of exhibition displays within installations in
institutions and on-line to facilitate the accessibility and
communication of cultural collections to a global audience. It will be
used to enhance the content of outreach programs conducted by cultural
institutions directed to a youth audience (e.g. State Library of
Victoria's Public Education and Experimedia programs).

Recording:  high-resolution detailed images for the benefit of future
generations of objects subject to deterioration; recording of
(especially indigenous) objects subject to repatriation requests - for
the owner communities, relinquishing institutions and the wider
community.

Conservation: demonstrations of the process of conserving and
restoring artefacts; secure, non-invasive virtual reconstruction of
artefacts.

Users:
Australian urban, regional and remote teachers at all levels, public
cultural collections; private cultural collections; indigenous
community cultural repositories, private industry and art creators
(e.g. individual artists, artists-in-residence).
Members of the community who wish to undergo elementary training to
use the system within their own environments (e.g. organisations
concerned with assisting people with disabilities, health education
groups, public libraries, community learning centres, CAE, U3A) and to
then instruct others in the techniques involved.

Project Development:
Development of the project is being co-ordinated within the Centre for
Cultural Materials Conservation (CCMC) at the University of Melbourne.
A team approach has been adopted, with the hardware/software design
shared between CCMC and LaTrobe University Physics Department and the
equipment fabrication taking place in the technical laboratories of
the University of Melbourne Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering as a 3rd-year student project in 2008. The participants in
project development have been drawn from University departments,
[primary and secondary schools], cultural institutions and State
Government departments.



Negotiations are being undertaken with government information
departments VicNet and the Australian Film and Sound Archives to set
reasonable archive standards of 3-D file format and size and to
provide centralised links to all on-line school and community 3-D web
pages produced using this system for instructional and reference
purposes.

We intend to devise and promote widely-publicised, sponsored
multimedia competitions between schools featuring rich-content
multimedia web pages/sites generated by this system.



-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: VRrig2 181207 10006-01017.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 105806 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://www.edulists.com.au/pipermail/yr11it/attachments/20080109/5c9d1313/VRrig218120710006-01017-0001.jpg