Abstract
Cultural landscapes are those that are shaped through the combined forces of cultural and natural activity, typically over a long period that may reach back to historic and prehistoric times. Amongst these, the documenting, modelling and visualisation of cave landscapes have always been particularly important for scientific communities such as speleology. In the current state of the art, terrestrial laser scanning provides a level of documentation of objects whose accuracy cannot be achieved by conventional methods. In addition to the highly accurate metric and geometric information, visual information brings incredible richness to the presentation of data. Virtual reality (VR) allows individuals to immerse themselves within virtual environments to explore monuments and other cultural heritage sites up close. More and more, VR systems are available at lower prices and are not only limited to VR labs. In this paper, we present research on the generation of a virtual 3D model of the İnceğiz caves, located at the Çatalca district of Istanbul, Turkey, and its integration within the Unity 3D game engine. This project, carried out as a collaboration between BİMTAŞ, a company of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, Turkey and the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany, aimed at developing an immersive and interactive VR visualisation of the cave for the HTC Vive Pro VR system. The entire workflow, from data acquisition to VR visualisation, is described here in detail with particular emphasis given to the 3D modelling of the cave and its integration within a VR environment.
Highlights
The mapping and modelling of complex cave geometry is traditionally a challenging task
BİMTAŞ, a company of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, generated a virtual 3D model of the İnceğiz cave for the Istanbul City Government, with the aim of promoting the monument to tourists. This 3D model has been processed in collaboration with the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany, to develop a Virtual reality (VR) application for the immersive and interactive visualisation of the historic caves in Istanbul using the new HTC Vive Pro VR system as a new kind of knowledge dissemination
The technical specifications of the HTC Vive Pro are summarised in the following: (a) dual AMOLED 3.5′′ diagonal screens with a field of view of approximately 110°, one per eye, each having a display resolution of 1440 × 1600 pixels with a refresh rate of 90 Hz, (b) positioning sensors including gyroscopes, (c) 6 by 6 m tracking space for user operation using two base stations for 360° tracking volume, (d) SteamVR 2.0 running on Microsoft Windows as the platform/operating system, (e) two wireless motion controllers, (f) Vive Pro headset, on-ear headphones and dual integrated microphones to enable better input and collaboration, and (g) QC powerbank, connection cable and the kit together with extended head pillow for wireless adapter
Summary
The mapping and modelling of complex cave geometry is traditionally a challenging task. Excavations at Istanbul’s Yenikapı have placed Istanbul’s origin at around 8000 years ago, while discoveries at Göbeklitepe in Urfa have recovered remains some 12,000 years old These discoveries have led to the rewriting of world history (Ulusoy Binan 2017). The inventory of cultural assets is increasing with the discoveries added every day in Istanbul These cultural heritage resources, which are the common asset of humanity, must be protected and documented to be transferred to future generations. In this respect, BİMTAŞ, a company of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul, generated a virtual 3D model of the İnceğiz cave for the Istanbul City Government, with the aim of promoting the monument to tourists. This 3D model has been processed in collaboration with the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany, to develop a VR application for the immersive and interactive visualisation of the historic caves in Istanbul using the new HTC Vive Pro VR system as a new kind of knowledge dissemination
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
