Communications of the ACM
Photo Project Aims to Preserve Time in 3D
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Professor Pedro Sander in front of the 150 billion-pixel photo.
Credit: Darren Pauli / ZDNet Australia
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology researchers have developed a method to preserve the world's treasures in three-dimensional (3-D) life-like models using open source software and super-high resolution photographs. The researchers took about 11,000 18-megapixel images from a variety of different angles that were combined using the computer software to create the models.
"For historical purposes, we can capture, say, a statue as it is in this point of time so if there is a change in the world and the statue is gone, generations will be able to see it as it was," says Hong Kong University professor Pedro Sander. "It will show a snapshot of the city in a point in time. You will be able to zoom in and see what people are doing, how they lived. This is our final goal."
The method also could be used to create 3D pictures, to be viewed with traditional 3-D glasses, which would combine two images taken from adjacent angles. Sander says the technique also could be used to help tourists see never-before-seen details of foreign cities, or too see 3-D representations of organs or other details of the human body.
From CNet Asia
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