Computer Science Events
[PAST EVENT] CS Colloquium: Investigating the Past with 3D Scanning, Visualization, and Analysis
Szymon Rusinkiewicz
Department of Computer Science
Princeton University
Abstract:
Recent research into scanning, visualizing, and analyzing real-world 3D objects has the potential of providing novel insights into archaeological sites and artifacts. Two recent projects have investigated how digital methods may be used to document and propose reconstructions of objects from ancient Greece and Cyprus. The first is a system that uses 3-D and 2-D digitization hardware, together with computer-based matching techniques, to assist archaeologists and conservators in documenting and reassembling thousands of plaster fragments from wall-paintings at the site of Akrotiri (modern-day Santorini, Greece). The second is a joint research and educational project in which students created digital reconstructions of four buildings in Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus, producing a computer-animated movie to accompany an exhibition of material from the site.
Bio:
Szymon Rusinkiewicz is Professor and Associate Chair of Computer Science at Princeton University. His work focuses on the interface between computers and the visual and tangible world: acquisition, representation, analysis, and fabrication of 3D shape, motion, surface appearance, and scattering. He investigates algorithms for processing geometry and reflectance, including registration, matching, completion, hierarchical decomposition, symmetry analysis, sampling, and depiction. Applications of this work include documentation of cultural heritage artifacts and sites, appearance and performance capture for digital humans, and illustrative depiction through line drawings and non-photorealistic shading models.
Contact
ppeers@cs.wm.edu