Douglas Pritchard

Following the implementation of the Virtual Multimodal Museum (ViMM) project, which finished in March 2019, the European Commission issued a Declaration on Cooperation on Advancing Digitisation of Cultural Heritage during the Digital Day in April 2019. One year later, in April 2020, the European Commission (EC) launched a commercial call for tenders to develop a Study on quality in 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage (the study). The tender theme is to acknowledge the increasing demand for internationally recognised standards for the holistic 3D documentation of Europe's rich cultural heritage (CH) and address the lack of standards. The study aims to map parameters, formats, standards, benchmarks, methodologies, and guidelines relating to the 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage, the different potential purposes or uses, by type of tangible cultural heritage, and the degree of complexity of tangible cultural heritage. A team of researchers at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) leads a consortium of partners from industry and academia across Europe to conduct this unique study. This work in progress paper introduces the research's objectives and methodology and presents some of its first results.

This paper presents a real-time visualisation of an early architectural design for an amusement park. This commercial project, aimed at generating political support and investor interest for the proposed development, was implemented to strict budgets and deadlines and provides the case study to analyse the limitations of current content creation tools and formulate requirements for further research and development. The architectural design of the amusement park was in its early stages at the beginning of the project. The visualisation team received a series of hand drawings from the architect representing the top-down view of the site including its immediate surroundings and a rough CAD model including building outlines. The development covers an area of roughly 1 km square, which is typical for many similar projects, although the team has previously handled real-time urban visualisations for larger regions of approximately 5 by 3 km. The amusement park is a parkland setting includi...

Constructed between 1440 and 1486, Rosslyn Chapel has had a difficult history. It has suffered vandalism and neglect during the Protestant Reformation, used as a stable for Oliver Cromwell’s horses during the English Civil War, unsympathetically renovated during the 1800’s and nearly blown-up by the suffragette movement in 1914. During the 1950’s the Chapel has suffered a failing roof in combination with an unsympathetic application of a white cementitious paint to the interior – essentially locking in the moisture into the stone. As part of an on going research partnership, Historic Scotland and Glasgow School of Art systematically digitally documented the interior and exterior of the building and grounds over a three-day period. The purpose of the project was to implement a full 3D terrestrial laser survey of the existing structure to document its current physical condition and to help guide conservation techniques. Of particular concern was the structural integrity of the main va...

Our built heritage is continuously exposed to profound change, from natural phenomena and climate change to manmade pollution and encroaching urbanism. Cultural heritage sites, which are testimonies of individual uniqueness and the roots of an individual society, are in great danger. Some of them will disappear; others have already disappeared forever. The advent of effective laser scanning, high-resolution digital photography, widespread internet access, and affordable digital storage means this is the first time in history that we can capture and disseminate information fast enough to make a difference. In 2006 the Digital Design Studio at the Glasgow School of Art and the Technical Conservation Group at Historic Scotland signed a multi-year agreement to explore and implement innovative information technologies – relating to virtual reality, telemetry, multi-media and computer aided design - in the service of the explanation and interpretation of iconic sites with geological, hist...

3D visualization is a powerful tool to increase understanding and experience of the world’s cultural heritage. However, where there is incomplete primary material on which to base visualizations there is a recognised danger that 3D models, as absolutist in their representations, can be misinterpreted as a totally accurate replica of reality. Good practice in creating digital reconstructions of non extant architecture leads to researchers meticulously documenting the process and outputs of heritage visualizations, however unless the research sources and methods are made explicit and visible, the danger of mis-reading visualized data remains. This research describes the development of software that allows research sources, methods, and interpretation to be added as multimedia annotations to a 3D scene comprising the entire British Empire Exhibition of 1938. All real-world and digital objects are semantically described and given a spatial placement within the scene. The software is bui...

Constructed between 1440 and 1486, Rosslyn Chapel has had a difficult history. It has suffered vandalism and neglect during the Protestant Reformation, used as a stable for Oliver Cromwell's horses during the English Civil War, unsympathetically renovated during the 1800's and nearly blown-up by the suffragette movement in 1914. During the 1950's the Chapel has suffered a failing roof in combination with an unsympathetic application of a white cementitious paint to the interior – essentially locking in the moisture into the stone. As part of an on going research partnership, Historic Scotland and Glasgow School of Art systematically digitally documented the interior and exterior of the building and grounds over a three-day period. The purpose of the project was to implement a full 3D terrestrial laser survey of the existing structure to document its current physical condition and to help guide conservation techniques. Of particular concern was the structural integrity of the main vault during the replacement of the existing roof. Fourteen cross-sections were cut through the scan data to determine the exact thickness of the vault. As part of the presentation material for the new Chapel interpretive centre, the terrestrial scan data was used to generate a 3D model and subsequent 3-minute animation, depicting the evolution of the Chapel from it's construction to the Protestant Reformation. In addition, a Percepteron system was used to generate sub-centimetre scans of 10 interior sculptures. The data was used to generate a series of photo-real animations, telling the story of each sculpture. Current terrestrial laser scanning technology is capable of delivering visually rich dimensionally-accurate 2D and 3D digital images that, when combined with advanced imaging and animation processes, can become valuable resources for both conservation and public interpretation. Over a three-day period in March 2009, a combined team from the Digital Design Studio at the Glasgow School of Art and the Conservation Group at Historic Scotland digitally photographed and terrestrially laser scanned Rosslyn Chapel and surrounding property. Initially the Rosslyn Chapel project was undertaken for the following reasons:  To thoroughly document the physical condition of the building.  To look at how the latest 3D digital technology can be blended with traditional conservation techniques.  To assist the RCT and associated construction contractors by providing dimensionally accurate CAD drawings and 3D models during their conservation project. To understand the potential of terrestrial laser scanning for recording built heritage, particularly structures historically difficult to record due to their geometric complexity, and ones that are increasingly exposed to changing environmental conditions.

Our built heritage is continuously exposed to profound change, from natural phenomena and climate change to manmade pollution and encroaching urbanism. Cultural heritage sites, which are testimonies of individual uniqueness and the roots of an individual society, are in great danger. Some of them will disappear; others have already disappeared forever. The advent of effective laser scanning, high-resolution digital photography, widespread internet access, and affordable digital storage means this is the first time in history that we can capture and disseminate information fast enough to make a difference. In 2006 the Digital Design Studio at the Glasgow School of Art and the Technical Conservation Group at Historic Scotland signed a multi-year agreement to explore and implement innovative information technologies – relating to virtual reality, telemetry, multi-media and computer aided design-in the service of the explanation and interpretation of iconic sites with geological, historic, social and cultural significance. More recently both organisations have joined the CyArk Foundation whose mandate is to promote and support the documentation of endangered cultural-heritage sites through the use advanced technologies.

The Scottish Ten project seeks to digitally document World Heritage Sites in Scotland and culturally significant international heritage sites, using technologies such as terrestrial laser scanning, aerial LiDAR, high resolution photography, digital photogrammetry, high-accuracy GPS and digital total stations. The project has numerous aims, centering around conservation, cultural heritage management, promoting Scotland's technical and scientific expertise and Scottish cultural connections. This paper focuses on the recent 3D survey work in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site in Scotland. Two principal sites, Skara Brae and Maeshowe, are described, the methodologies undertaken and the results so far. Aside from generating accurate survey records, data will be utilised for analysis and interpretation, monitoring, visualisation and numerous other purposes. Although the data is still at the early stages of processing, the paper highlights the significant potential of 3D survey for understanding and managing the Heart of Neolithic Orkney and the benefits of 3D survey for cultural heritage applications in general.

The paper will present the early stages of an interdisciplinary design project that digitally documents the design legacies of the textile designer Bernat Klein (1922 – 2014) and architect Peter Womersley (1923 – 1993). The research project combines visual, cultural and technical design research from the School of Textiles and Design and the School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University, to create a new inter-disciplinary research platform for the capture of cultural heritage and the Scottish textiles industry.

This paper presents a real-time visualisation of an early architectural design for an amusement park. This commercial project, aimed at generating political support and investor interest for the proposed development, was implemented to strict budgets and deadlines and provides the case study to analyse the limitations of current content creation tools and formulate requirements for further research and development. The

Modern terrestrial laser scanners and photogrammetric imaging systems can provide highly accurate and objective as-built records of existing architectural, engineering, and industrial sites. This comprehensive digital recording benefits culturally significant places like heritage buildings, monuments, and other vital structures. The collected data can be instrumental in various ways, including aiding in conservation, management, monitoring and repair efforts and serving as an educational resource for scholars and the general public. These technical capabilities are especially well-suited for architecturally complex, ornate buildings like the Aachen Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage site. This paper describes the recent recording efforts at the Aachen Cathedral and is a comparative study of the previous documentation work done at the Cologne Cathedral. The 3D documentation of the Aachen Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage Site is an ongoing collaborative project between the Sapienza

Following the action plan implementation of the Virtual Multimodal Museum (ViMM) project, which finished in March 2019, the European Commission issued a Declaration on Cooperation on Advancing Digitisation of Cultural Heritage during the Digital Day in April 2019. One year later, in April 2020, the European Commission (EC) launched a call for tenders to develop a Study on quality in 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage (the Study), thus responding to the increasing demand for internationally recognised standards for the holistic 3D documentation of Europe’s rich cultural heritage (CH). To address this lack of standards, the Study aims to map parameters, formats, standards, benchmarks, methodologies and guidelines, relating to 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage, to the different potential purposes or uses, by type of tangible cultural heritage, and by degree of complexity of tangible cultural heritage. A team of researchers at the Cyprus University of Technology (...

Contemporary terrestrial laser scanners and photogrammetric imaging systems are an invaluable tool in providing objectively precise, as-built records of existing architectural, engineering and industrial sites. The comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) recording of culturally important sites such as heritage buildings, monuments, and sites can serve a variety of invaluable purposes; the data can assist in the conservation, management, and repair of a structure, as well as provide a visually engaging educational resource for both the public and scholars. The acquired data acts as a form of digital preservation, a timeless virtual representation of the as-built structure. The technical capability of these systems is particularly suited for the documentation of a richly articulated and detailed building such as the high Gothic Cologne Cathedral.<br><br> The 3D documentation of the Cologne Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage Site is a multiphase project developed by Heriot-Watt U...

Presentation with the School of Architecture, Development and Regeneration Services at Glasgow City Council and the Digital Design Studio. The presentation focused on Urban Lab project, the background to the Urban Model initiative and the development of the Urban Model.

Niklas Möring - Wer sich Köln nähert, sieht meist zuerst ihn: über 157 Meter ragt der Kölner Dom in den Himmel über der Stadt – er ist Weltkulturerbe, Kölner Wahrzeichen und ein Wunder sakraler Baukunst. Mit bis zu 20.000 Besuchern pro Tag ist Europas zweithöchstes Kirchengebäude eine der meist-besuchten Sehenswürdigkeiten Deutschlands. Doch Witterung, Luftverschmutzung, Besucherströme und Vandalismus setzten der Kathedrale stetig zu. Modernste Vermes-sungstechnik hilft nun bei der Daueraufgabe, das Gotteshaus für die Zukunft zu erhalten und bringt den Dom dafür digital in die »Cloud«. Modernste Vermessungstechnik trifft auf historisches Bauwerk Vom Kölner Dom zum »3Dom«

Described as an 'exceptional work of human creative genius' (UNESCO 1995), the Cathedral was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1996. The iconic building is of tremendous emotive value to the citizens of the Cologne and the German nation; it is also considered one of the most significant architectural structures of European Christianity. The design of the 157-metre twin tower structure dates back to 1164, and during a brief period from 1880 until 1890, it was considered the tallest building in the world.

Throughout its long history, though, the Cathedral has endured numerous challenges and threats. Neglect, war, vandalism, urban growth and environmental pollution have all had a significant impact on the physical fabric of the building. Current conservation challenges include the impact of adjacent engineering works, regional seismic activity, air pollution accelerating stone decay, global warming, vandalism and excessive tourism.