KDI: 3D Free-Form Models for Geometric Recovery and Applications to Archaeology

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With National Science Foundation support Dr David Cooper and his colleagues will develop a technology for the recovery of 3D free-form object and selected scene structure from one or more images and video. The technique is based on the development of 3D shape representation and a semi-interactive, mixed-initiative system, along with machine decision-directed Bayesian surface-estimation. The main focus of the effort is the development of tools useful in archaeological site and artifact reconstruction and architecture. This will impact low level shape models and how they are assembled to form either more complex objects or complete ones. The latter condition often occurs at archaeological excavation sites where objects are found in pieces, or have been damaged from erosion. Despite recent substantial progress in automated scene recovery in computer vision, the challenges presented by free-form shape extraction and assembly are still great. The researchers will employ an interactive approach in which a user can guide the recovery process or can be available when requested for assistance by the machine, e.g., in the complex task of assembling many fragments to re-create a large or complicated object. The intent is to develop the fundamentals of a user-controlled technology for the benefit of the naive user. The ultimate goal is to enhance productivity in interacting with large amounts of complex visual data by modeling the underlying 3D structure.This project will provide new practical tools. It will also provide an effective testbed for 3D shape reconstruction and recognition, more descriptive local and global models for working with 3D shapes, a better understanding of human/decision-making-machine interaction for free-form geometric modeling and for extracting 3D geometry from one or more images and video, and associated computational complexity issues. As applied to the field of archaeology, this technology will provide improved surveying methods, an advanced archaeological record and a means to conduct high-level analysis not heretofore available. It will further permit the transfer of reconstruction capabilities from the artist directly to the archaeologist. Since the problems resolved in the archaeological context are to a significant degree generic and thus transferable to the fields of medicine, industry, defense etc, the potential impact is extremely broad.