Low Cost Handheld 3D Scanning for Egyptian Architectural Artifacts Acquisition

Abstract

Surface reconstruction of objects using photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning systems (TLS) has been a topic for research for many decades, especially for culture heritage data recording. Recently, many advances into these systems are now available in the market, which give the availability of collecting a huge number of geo-referenced 3-D points covering any object surface. Due to speed and efficiency of data acquisition by means of terrestrial laser scanners, researchers and designers can select the reliable technique, depending on their application, that can be complete to give good results for the complex surfaces such as heritage objects. As Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), located nearby the Giza Pyramids, is set to open by 2020, which considered as the largest museum from its type all over the world, with a huge area covered about a half million m2. GEM is proposed to be a unique museum all over the world for presenting a huge number from old history Egyptian artifacts. Consequently, there is a vital need for building a huge digital database containing complete information for this large number of artifacts. Mobile applications are presently at the primacy of documenting historical and archaeological sites. The current paper examine the methodological framework adopted for one high copy of Pharaonic artifacts, namely Offering Carrier, using hand held laser scanning and convert the results to a mobile application.