Gravitate Project Overview

1. Discovering relationships
between artefacts using 3D and
semantic data
June 2015 – May 2018

2. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lunamodule/
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
Cyprus

3. © Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
We can all do this jigsaw

4. © Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
What if lots of pieces
were missing?

5. © Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
What if it was in 3D?

6. Front Back
Faded
Cracked
Eroded
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
What if the pieces were 2500 years old, were all
faded, cracked and with the edges worn away so
that they didn’t actually fit together any more?

7. British Museum Cyprus Museum
Ashmolean Museum Fitzwilliam Museum
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016
What if the pieces were
in 4 different museums?

8. Jigsaws
in 3D
most pieces missing
all the edges worn off
many puzzles jumbled together
pieces spread across many countries
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

9. Re-Assembly
Re-Unification
Re-Association
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

10. Re-Assembly
You have some (eroded) pieces.
The computer fits them together.
This is hard in 2 dimensions, never mind in 3D!
Localised geometry
Surface texture
descriptorsLocalised detail
Colour descriptors
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

11. Re-Unification
Head in the British
Museum
Statue in the
Cyprus Museum
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

12.  Re-unify 3D models of the statue
 3D print copies for re-unification
 Re-unify statue in a virtual tour
Re-Unification
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

13. Re-Association
Artefact with semantic description
Material, decoration, size, shape, period, style, glaze, …
Data in another museum catalogue
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

14. Re-Association
Find similarities leading to
new insights about past cultures
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

15. How?
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

16. Geometric data, material data
 Point cloud, mesh
 Photos
 Shape, geometry
 reassembly
 Curvature
 Colour(s)
 UV light, pigments
 Pattern
 Texture
 markings front & back
 manufacturing methods
 Chemical composition
 x-ray fluorescence
 Microscopic composition
 clay matrix, porosity
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

17. Fracture
Fracture
External
Internal
3D model processing
Left Ear
Faceting
Describing
Annotating
Mating
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

18. “
Semantic data, natural language data
 CIDOC-CRM (“conceptual reference model”)
 ISO 21127:2006
 Object type, place, date, material, style, people, institution,
bibliography, dimensions, school, production technique, …
 Object  hasNote  “…lots of free-form text added by the curator”
 Natural Language Processing (NLP) required to extract further information
 The CRM harmonises knowledge to support discovery and enables
knowledge collaboration
 The British Museum has 2.5M objects described in CRM
provides definitions and a formal structure for describing the
implicit and explicit concepts and relationships used in cultural
heritage documentation.
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

19. Interactive Dashboard
© Copyright University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre and other GRAVITATE partners, 2015-2016

20. GRAVITATE-PROJECT.EU
Coordinator:
Stephen C Phillips
scp@it-innovation.soton.ac.uk