Abstract
Abstract. The paper describes challenges identified while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect. All the data, even if processed by optimization and decimation tools, result in very huge databases that require paging, streaming and Level-of-Detail techniques to be implemented to allow remote web based real time fruition. Our approach has been to select an open source scene-graph based visual simulation library with sufficient performance and flexibility and adapt it to the web by providing a browser plug-in. Within the current Montegrotto VR Project, content produced with new pipelines has been integrated. The whole Montegrotto Town has been generated procedurally by CityEngine. We used this procedural approach, based on algorithms and procedures because it is particularly functional to create extensive and credible urban reconstructions. To create the archaeological sites we used optimized mesh acquired with laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques whereas to realize the 3D reconstructions of the main historical buildings we adopted computer-graphic software like blender and 3ds Max. At the final stage, semi-automatic tools have been developed and used up to prepare and clusterise 3D models and scene graph routes for web publishing. Vegetation generators have also been used with the goal of populating the virtual scene to enhance the user perceived realism during the navigation experience. After the description of 3D modelling and optimization techniques, the paper will focus and discuss its results and expectations.
Highlights
AND DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM1.1 Cultural Heritage applications at landscape scaleThe paper will describe challenges found while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect.In landscape archaeology it is crucial to have an overview of the landscape at large and medium scale at the same time
Since interpretation can greatly benefit from the contribution of several experts in different domains, on line cooperative environments can be a real challenge for the future of landscape archaeology
Developing application in CH domain dealing with reconstruction at landscape scale, poses peculiar requirement to rendering engines: there is a huge variation in model scale and detail, navigation interface has to adapt to the scale content could come from very different pipelines according to time and provenance: for actual status we could get large scale GIS data (DTM and aerial-satellite photos), medium range data (Lidar) as well as detailed models from laser scan cloud points or photo modelling; for past time reconstruction hypotheses, some models are reconstructed by architectural modelling, while at a larger scale use of a procedural approach of tools like CityEngine is mandatory to approach larger area reconstructions
Summary
The paper will describe challenges found while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect. Developing application in CH domain dealing with reconstruction at landscape scale, poses peculiar requirement to rendering engines: there is a huge variation in model scale and detail, navigation interface has to adapt to the scale (fly, walk) content could come from very different pipelines (data acquisition, Computer Graphic-based modelling, procedural) according to time and provenance: for actual status we could get large scale GIS data (DTM and aerial-satellite photos), medium range data (Lidar) as well as detailed models from laser scan cloud points or photo modelling; for past time reconstruction hypotheses, some models are reconstructed by architectural modelling, while at a larger scale (urban level) use of a procedural approach of tools like CityEngine is mandatory to approach larger area reconstructions All these data, even if processed by optimization and decimation tools, result in very huge data-set that require paging, streaming and dynamic LOD to be implemented to allow remote web based real time fruition (we assume that remote visualization approaches is not feasible). One of the most successful example of this kind of applications is Google Earth plug-in that, does not seem to expose a sufficient degree of flexibility to be used as a general purpose development platform
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