Automatic 3D object reconstruction from multiple images for architectural, cultural heritage and archaeological applications using open-source software and web services

Constant improvements in the performance of internet and computer technologies combined with rapid advancements in computer vision algorithms now make it possible to efficiently and flexibly reconstruct the 3D geometry of objects. Objects of different sizes can be modelled using image sequences from commercial digital cameras that are processed by web services and freely available software packages, forming low-cost systems for numerous applications (restoration, historical care of monuments, visualization, analysis of the state of construction and the damage, etc.). In this contribution various cultural objects (historical buildings, statues/figures, archaeological finds, etc.) have been reconstructed in order to investigate the potential of this technology which enables the automatic generation of 3D point clouds or surface models (as 3D polygons) with photo-realistic texture from image data. These so-called low-cost systems represent an efficient alternative to expensive terrestrial laser scanning systems for the as-built documentation of 3D objects in architecture, cultural heritage and archaeology. The accuracy of the automatically generated 3D models is assessed by comparison with results from terrestrial laser scanning.