Abstract
Abstract. The intent of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural value that Virtual Heritage experiences can generate. As a proof of concept, game resolution assets were optimized from high polygon image based models (IBMs) and rendered in real-time, within a Head Mounted Display (HMD). The case study of lot 3317 was chosen to facilitate heuristic explorations pertinent to the history of the St. Lawrence Seaway, Canada. This case study explores methods in creating and validating heritage values, while valourizing assets as a cultural resource for use in the future. While at the same time, challenging the current spatial dynamics by conceptually reducing the distance between the viewer and the flooded landscape. In addition to demonstrating the cultural values generated through the veneration of lot 3317, the paper aims to provide a model for optimizing and post processing meshes produced through Under-Water Image-Base Modelling.
Highlights
Preserving and documenting under-water artefacts has increasingly became a topic of interest in the cultural heritage community
Most 6Dof Virtual Heritage (VH) systems are rendered in real time, and as a result mesh surfaces generated from typical structure from motion (SFM) pipelines are not ideal assets for these types of experiences. 3 major aspects that limit image based models (IBMs) mesh surfaces from being game resolution assets are their polygon face distribution, overall polygon count and in some cases their unoptimized UV maps
The workflow proposed in this study for optimizing underwater IBMs has been derived from standard protocols and procedures commonly used by the Computer Graphics (CG) industry in producing game resolution assets
Summary
Preserving and documenting under-water artefacts has increasingly became a topic of interest in the cultural heritage community. Works that focus on colour correction (Bianco et al, 2015), refraction distortion (Agrafiotis et al, 2015), Hardware (Carla et al, 2015 and Neyer et al, 2019), and technical workflows (D’Amelio et al, 2015), prove that is there a strong community of researchers dedicated to the dissemination of cultural heritage, and to the methods and workflows researchers tend to use when acquiring this data. With this in consideration, the documentation of underwater heritage has definitely found a recent increase in both quality and in production. This is due to the fact that each site is not publicly recognized and they are only accessible by boat, making them extremely difficult to find
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
