QueryArch3D: Querying and Visualising 3D Models of a Maya Archaeological Site in a Web-Based Interface

Abstract

Constant improvements in the field of surveying, computing and distribution of digital-content are reshaping the way Cultural Heritage can be digitised and virtually accessed, even remotely via web. A traditional 2D approach for data access, exploration, retrieval and exploration may generally suffice, however more complex analyses concerning spatial and temporal features require 3D tools, which, in some cases, have not yet been implemented or are not yet generally commercially available. Efficient organisation and integration strategies applicable to the wide array of heterogeneous data in the field of Cultural Heritage represent a hot research topic nowadays. This article presents a visualisation and query tool (QueryArch3D) conceived to deal with multi-resolution 3D models. Geometric data are organised in successive levels of detail (LoD), provided with geometric and semantic hierarchies and enriched with attributes coming from external data sources. The visualisation and query front-end enables the 3D navigation of the models in a virtual environment, as well as the interaction with the objects by means of queries based on attributes or on geometries. The tool can be used as a standalone application, or served through the web. The characteristics of the research work, along with some implementation issues and the developed QueryArch3D tool will be discussed and presented.

Behind the 3D Scene: A GIS Approach for Managing the Chronological Information of Historic Buildings

“…Considering the peculiarities of historic buildings, the information management systems helps to separate segments of information and relink them together in a structured way which allows new information to be derived, or to aid its link to 3D data [43,44]. This aid would come in the form of the semantic enrichment of 3D models, which is also a potential solution for archiving historic building's chronological information.…”

Digital 3D Borobudur – Integration of 3D surveying and modeling techniques

“…For these purposes, 3D digital technologies, if wisely and systematically applied, represent a powerful solution for sharing and efficiently managing information about large and complex heritage environments. With this perspective, in the last years, the problem of visualizing and managing complex 3D data has been extensively investigated by different researchers who have presented web based solutions for visualization purposes (Silla, 2012;Potree, 2014;Potenziani et al, 2015) as well as for analyses and management (Fassi et al, 2011(Fassi et al, , 2015De Luca, 2013) or in the form of navigable virtual reality environments based on unity game engine (Agugiaro et al, 2011;Hullo et al, 2015). The above mentioned systems, very often structured with different LODs, may be enriched with additional features and tools for analyzing the 3D shape of each single stone relief as a whole.…”

Surveying Ancient Maya Buildings in the Forest

“…Its aim is to produce an open access digital archive of World Heritage sites to be preserved or used for educational purposes. Copan, in Honduras, has also been chosen to test and demonstrate the capabilities of "QueryArch3D", another tool that enables the web-based visualization of interactive multi-resolution 3D models (Agugiaro et al, 2011;von Schwerin et al 2013, Auer et al, 2015. However, while both being remarkable propositions, these technologies were not conceived for archaeological analysis nor for other scientific applications during archaeological excavations.…”