Internet Access to the 3D Archive
When objects or sites are documented by INSIGHT teams, the data gathered
is archived for future use. An archive's 3D data consists of all
digital point measurements taken at a given site. These point measurements,
stored in a variety of formats, consitute an accurate expression of the
real object in digital space. The archived data is usable in different
ways:
-
Archived 3D data can be studied as a digital "cast" of the original object.
-
Using stereo lithography, accurate physical duplicates can be created using
3D data.
-
Reconstructions can be built using the archive data as a starting point
for interpretation.
One of our main
goals is to make objects widely accessible, especially in circumstances
where existing publication is rare or nonexistent. Selected objects
from our archive are presented here as an example of the kinds of 3D data
INSIGHT is interested in archiving.
Available File Types
Overview
A SAMPLE
CLOUD OF POINTS
Viewing
complex 3D models has traditionally required specialized technology.
Happily, though, recent graphics research has made it possible to display
3D data even on modest systems. The following files have been converted
from their native file format in order to facilitate display using three
file formats: QSplat, Octree, and ASCII. The native file format
for a given object or site depends depends on the sensor used to record
the 3D information, but all 3D scanning technologies record position information
for a sequence of points. Taken together, thousands or millions of
points describe the real-world surface of the object being scanned.
A visualization of this raw 3D data as a "cloud of points" is shown
at left.
QSplat Viewer (point display)
QSplat
is a efficient 3D viewer developed by Szymon Rusinkiewicz at Stanford
University's Graphics Lab. QSplat is free for academic and research
use and is supported on Linux, Irix, Solaris, and Windows platforms.
QSplat uses common OpenGL graphics hardware to accelerate the display of
the raw 3D points available in a file: each XYZ point is quickly
drawn as one point, or splat, by the viewer. To use QSplat:
Octree Viewer (voxel display)
Octree Viewer, an efficient voxel 3D viewer, is provided without cost for
non-commercial applications by
Octree
Corporation. The Octree Viewer allows users to display 3D objects
using their web browser. Octree is available for Windows 95 / NT
/ 2000. To use the Octree Viewer:
ASCII Data (raw XYZ data)
The unprocessed point cloud data is available in ASCII format. This
"raw data" can be converted into a wide range of 3D data formats.
For an overview of converters, follow these links:
Models for Download
A Sculpture in the British Museum
(BM Egyptian Antiquities #114)
Medium Resolution Scan (6mm), 3 viewpoints, 25 min. total
|
Scanned in March, 2000 by INSIGHT (Cain, Martinez, Munn) at the British
Museum, London.
|
| Notes: Special Thanks to Dr. Nigel Studwick for his gracious
asssistance in coordinating this project. |
(Coming Soon)
British_Museum_Octree.zip
Octree Format
- KB (Compressed)
- KB (Uncompressed)
Dowload Time (56k): - sec.
400 pixel voxel cube
Nov, 2000
Click Here to Download
British_Museum_QSplat.zip
QSplat Format
268 KB (Compressed)
333 KB (Uncompressed)
Dowload Time (56k): 6 sec.
51,095 Leaf Points
Nov, 2000
Click Here to Download
British_Museum_ASCII.zip
ASCII Format
398 KB (Compressed)
1,051 KB (Uncompressed)
Dowload Time (56k): 8 sec.
51,096 XYZ Points
Nov, 2000
End of Model List
Links
The British Museum: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/egyptian/index.html
Octree Corporation: http://www.octree.com
QSplat Home Page: http://graphics.stanford.edu/software/qsplat/