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A brief explanation. |
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Laser Scanning v.
Photography? An emerging technology at the core of our work, 3D scanning allows researchers to gather detailed measurements at a site without the usual distortions from camera lenses or hand drawings. The technique is equally applicable for small objects to whole buildings. Therefore, a benefit of this technology is its ability to aid in documentation of whole sites: both the larger structures and the objects are within.
Laser scanning can be used to create an image
of an object in space, but the construction of this image comes by a very
different method than is used in conventional photography. Consider
the two images at right. When a
conventional photo is taken (at right), the image is captured through a lens. The
specifications of the lens determine the observed perspective in the final
image. Also, the lens introduces distortions that make it hard to
extract accurate measurements. This is why the orthographic drawings
commonly used by architects and engineers are drawn without perspective.
In an orthographic drawing, the relationships between any given points on the drawing can be measured
accurately. |
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What Does it Look Like? Laser scanning measures the distance from the scanner to a specific point on a given object. After making these measurements, the relationship between the gathered points can be expressed in the constructed 3D space of the computer. By taking thousands or millions of measurements, a “cloud of points” emerges that accurately describes the subject being scanned. Finally, when rendered from the point of view of a synthetic camera in the 3D world space of the computer (at right), accurate views are generated. To illustrate the process, an object under the conservation of Ecole Normale Superior in Paris. is considered here. |
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Taking a Different Angle
Below is a photo (left) and computer
rendering (right) of the same artifact as above, seen from a new viewpoint. |
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Another
set of |
 The above model, rotated to match the photo at left. |
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After Rotating the
Artifact
As above, a matched set of images:
photograph (left) and 3D model (right). |
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A final
set of |
 Another angle of the 3D model. |
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A Multimedia Example
See our QuickTime movies that illustrates the
scanning process. |
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