CS Talk
Speaker: Benedict Brown, University of Pennsylvania
Title: Reconstructing Ancient Wall Paintings Using 3D Scanning and Matching
Abstract: Archaeologists routinely face the challenge of reassembling artifacts from hundreds or thousands of fragments. The problem is a bit like putting together an incomplete jigsaw puzzle whose pieces are indistinct shapes, the completed puzzle’s size and appearance are unknown, and many pieces have no distinct color or pattern. This talk will examine one particular type of material–plaster wall painting fragments. It will discuss the 3D scanning systems we have developed for rapidly acquiring 3D models of each individual fragment, the algorithms for finding potential matches between fragments, and the tools for visualizing matches and creating virtual reconstructions. It will also highlight past undergraduate contributions to the project and some of the many ways we would like to see undergraduates contribute in the future.
This talk is intended for computer science undergraduates. No background in computer graphics is required to understand it.