INTACT

3D VISUALISATION OF THE INTERIOR OF ART OBJECTS THROUGH CT SCANS

In the ongoing Impact4Art project, we performed successful research projects on CT scanning for cultural heritage. The visualisation of results focusses on 2D slices through the object showing the internal features. We have found that a 3D representation of the scan is very valuable to facilitate easy access to the data. 3D images are also appealing to a wide public and are perfect for online dissemination by the museum. In the IntACT project we therefore want to extend the methods developed in the Impact4Art project with a standardized approach for 3D visualisations of CT scans. We further want to expand the visualisation scheme by overlaying surface scans on these visualisations.

The goal is to develop a protocol for 3D visualisation of CT scans and surface scans using open source software. The step-by-step approach will facilitate fast and visually engaging and informative 3D visualisations, usable by the Rijksmuseum and other cultural heritage institutions for research and outreach purposes. The method will be developed on existing datasets collected in the Impact4Art project and afterwards applied to a case study from the Rijksmuseum collection. The work will be carried out at CWI and Rijksmuseum by recent Technical Art History graduate Paul van Laar.