Photogrammetry
123D Catch has the advantage of being free and easy to use — simply plug in 30-70 photos and it typically produces an adequate model.
PhotoScan is not free, but it tends to produce better results. It’s also not quite as user friendly as 123D Catch, but the basics are easy enough once you’ve gotten the hang of it. Each of the blue squares in this image indicates the position from which a photo was taken. PhotoScan, like 123D Catch, stiches these photos together to create a 3D model using a process known as photogrammetry. In short, this means that they create 3D models by locating points of commonality between the various photos. To create a high-quality model, PhotoScan creates a “point cloud” of up to 40,000 points. These points are then “meshed” together to create a 3D model, like the one you see here.
As I mentioned, the idea was to incorporate these models into a historical exhibit using a technology called “augmented reality,” or simply AR.
You’ve all seen QR codes before — image tracking AR works similarly to these. Rather than scanning a series of random dots to access a website, AR programs like AugmentedEv allow you to scan actual pictures, in order to access a 3D model.
Our concept for the project was to create a mock 1960s, Air Canada in-flight magazine that augmented to 21st century scholarship on the period. Readers could scan the images within the book using a phone or tablet. Doing so would direct them towards an accompanying 3D model, or to web pages containing the historical anecdotes and analyses that we had written. One thing I really like about projects like this is the way they combine different mediums. There is a tactile element here: we had a dozen or so copies of our magazine printed and bound, and the 3D models that appeared could be seen from different angles or at different scales simply by moving the page underneath your own device. (nb the pdf of this book will be available in due course).
PhotoScan is not free, but it tends to produce better results. It’s also not quite as user friendly as 123D Catch, but the basics are easy enough once you’ve gotten the hang of it. Each of the blue squares in this image indicates the position from which a photo was taken. PhotoScan, like 123D Catch, stiches these photos together to create a 3D model using a process known as photogrammetry. In short, this means that they create 3D models by locating points of commonality between the various photos. To create a high-quality model, PhotoScan creates a “point cloud” of up to 40,000 points. These points are then “meshed” together to create a 3D model, like the one you see here.
As I mentioned, the idea was to incorporate these models into a historical exhibit using a technology called “augmented reality,” or simply AR.
You’ve all seen QR codes before — image tracking AR works similarly to these. Rather than scanning a series of random dots to access a website, AR programs like AugmentedEv allow you to scan actual pictures, in order to access a 3D model.
Our concept for the project was to create a mock 1960s, Air Canada in-flight magazine that augmented to 21st century scholarship on the period. Readers could scan the images within the book using a phone or tablet. Doing so would direct them towards an accompanying 3D model, or to web pages containing the historical anecdotes and analyses that we had written. One thing I really like about projects like this is the way they combine different mediums. There is a tactile element here: we had a dozen or so copies of our magazine printed and bound, and the 3D models that appeared could be seen from different angles or at different scales simply by moving the page underneath your own device. (nb the pdf of this book will be available in due course).
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