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3D Virtual Museum Display and Applications

Three-dimensional models of museum objects that retain close fidelity of the 3D models to the actual objects provide some unique virtual display and exhibition applications for museums.

Museum Exhibition Enhancement Applications

The 1995 Mothers of Time exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Civilization featured a display of seven of fifteen paleolithic figurines discovered between 1883 and 1895 by Louis Alexandre Julien at the Balzi Rossi site near the French–Italian border. It was the largest series ever found in one location in Western Europe.

The seven figurines in the Exhibition are estimated to be 25,000 years old and range in size from 23 to 72 mm. Two are sculpted in bone or ivory and the other five in different minerals. The figurines were displayed flat in a glass case, thus only one side was visible. Although magnifying glasses were available to the visitors, the small details, such as the tool marks and incisions, were difficult to discern.

To enhance the Exhibition, the Museum asked NRC to scan the seven figurines using the High-Resolution Color Laser Scanner and to prepare an interactive 3D virtual display to enable the visitors to examine high-resolution stereo 3D models of the Figurines in either a monoscopic or stereoscopic viewing mode using active shutter glasses. Visitors could examine the figurines by manipulating a track ball and changing the display modes. The display reverted to a predetermined animated sequence when unused for a given time. Figure 1 illustrates the display station and one of the ivory figurines, called the Armless Lady. A photograph of the original (67 mm in height) during scanning appears in Figure 1b. Figures 1c and 1d show renderings of the 3D color model. One of the visual enhancements that proved useful for visitors was a shaded rendering of the surface without the measured color (see Figure 1e). This representation enhances many of the surface shape’s small details, which are difficult to see on the actual object.

Figure 1: (a) The interactive 3D virtual display station used during the Mothers in Time exhibition to enable the visitors to examine high-resolution stereo 3D models of the Figurines in either a monoscopic or stereoscopic viewing mode using active shutter glasses. (b) Photo of the Armless Lady (67mm high) during scanning. (c) and (d) Color 3D models. (e) A shaded view the geometry with the color removed enhances examination of the surface details.
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This project was significant at several levels. It pushed the limits of the prototype color sensor and modeling algorithms available at that time. It also served as a first public test case for establishing the technology’s relevance and usefulness. Finally, it illustrated the potential of virtualized models of museum objects not as substitutes, but as complements and enhancements to traditional exhibits within the museum walls.

For additional information see Godin et al, 2002. Active Optical 3D Imaging for Heritage Applications, NRC 44945.

Remote 3D Display of Museum Objects Applications

The application of 3D technology for remote display of museum objects was demonstrated in two exhibitions in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC).

In the first exhibition, high-resolution 3D models were made by digitizing objects from the Museum's collection using a prototype commercial color laser scanner. The exhibition, The 3rd Dimension: A New Way of Seeing in Cyberspace , used information kiosks - one in the museum and one in a remote site at the Royal British Columbia Museum connected to a high-speed communication network – where visitors could interactively examine high-resolution 3D models from any perspective in stereo (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Digitizing system for 3D models for information kiosks
The digitizing system (a) at the Canadian Museum of Civilization scanning an object from the Museum’s collection during the exhibition The 3rd Dimension: A New Way of Seeing in Cyberspace. Stereo images were displayed in an interactive display station (b) at the Museum and at Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria. (c) The shaded view and color rendering of a Nisga’a rattle illustrate the type of high-resolution images viewers could interactively examine in stereo on the display station.
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The second remote display application was a virtual web exhibition, Inuit 3D, one of six inaugural Virtual Museum of Canada exhibitions launched in April 2001. Inuit 3D is an interactive VRML exhibition in which visitors navigate through three exhibition halls in a virtual museum and interactively examine twelve 3D models of objects from the Museum’s collection (Figure 3). Introductory QuickTime videos are presented at the entrance to each room to provide information on Inuit history and the Canadian North. Pop-up text panels provide information on the objects as well as on the artists.

In preparing a web exhibit using high-resolution 3D models of museum objects, it is necessary to compress the models to facilitate acceptable download times. In doing so, an important factor is to preserve an acceptable level of fidelity of the compressed models to the actual objects. In preparing the models for Inuit 3D, the original high-resolution model was transformed into a texture-mapped compressed model using an algorithm that reprojects the color of the removed vertices onto the coarser mesh. Figure 3 shows a view of the virtual exhibit hall and the model of one of the Palaeo-Eskimo carvings.

Figure 3: Views for a virtual exhibition
(a) View of the Inuit Art Hall in the virtual exhibition Inuit 3D from the entrance. “Billboard” images of the objects were placed in individual display cases and images of arctic photographs and prints were added to the walls. Clicking on an object in a display case opens two new pop-up windows (b). The left pop-up window contains the 3D VRML model of the object, which can be interactively examined. The right pop-up window contains information on the object as well as links to related information on other sites.
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