Algorithm Development For Reconstruction Of Design Elements

考古学家、法医和空难检查员经常发现证据物体破碎成许多碎片，如果数量很大，他们面临着如何匹配、边缘形状和表面标记以将碎片重新组装在一起的问题。在个别网站经常生产数千件作品的情况下，这个问题可能会特别严重。这项研究将开发一个名为SnowVision的计算机辅助程序，以帮助将物体的碎片拼接在一起。这项研究不仅对它在考古遗址中的应用具有重要意义，而且对所开发的算法的普遍适用性也具有重要意义。该项目将为计算机视觉科学家提供对一条新研究路线的新见解。该项目的开源性质意味着团队交付的产品可以应对多个挑战。除了对教育的影响，该项目还包括对美洲原住民部落和机构的外展努力。凯伦·史密斯和她的研究团队正在通过专注于一种特定类型的史前美国东南部陶器来解决这个问题，这种陶器包含有桨形图案。为了开发和实施SnowVision，史密斯博士和她的团队专注于在斯威夫特克里克陶器(约公元200-800年)上进行的设计，这些陶器在整个南方腹地都有发现。斯威夫特克里克的曲线设计被雕刻在木桨上，然后印在陶器上，当在考古背景下发现划桨匹配时，它以前所未有的粒度深入了解交换、仪式和流动性网络，就像它们经常出现的那样。时间、设计专业知识和藏品获取的限制一直是这些前哥伦布网络研究取得进展的主要障碍，设计匹配为这些网络提供了明确的证据。SnowVision将提高研究人员从不同考古遗址识别设计匹配的速度。这反过来将激励未得到充分研究的藏品的数字化。通过在网上提供该软件和相关的陶器碎片图像，SnowVision还将扩大不同博物馆收藏的范围。这些设计的传播将继续提高人们对我国土著社区深厚的装饰传统的认识。SHERD图像将与Open Context一起存档，其中SHERD数据可以与来自其他研究项目的数据一起使用。

Archaeologists, forensic scientists, and air crash examiners often find objects of evidence broken in many pieces, and if the number is large they face the problem of how to match, edge shapes and surface markings to fit the fragments back together. In cases where individual sites often yield thousands of pieces this problem can be particularly acute. This research will develop a computer assisted program, "SnowVision" to aid in fitting fragments of objects together. The research is of significance for its use not only at archaeological sites but also for the general applicability of the algorithms developed. The project will provide new insights into a novel line of research for computer vision scientists. The open-source nature of the project means that the products delivered by the team can be addressed to multiple challenges. In addition to the educational impacts, the project includes outreach efforts to Native-American tribes and institutions.Dr. Karen Smith and her research team are addressing this issue by focusing on a specific type of prehistoric Southeastern US pottery which contains paddle-stamped designs. For the development and implementation of SnowVision, Dr. Smith and her team focus on the designs embellished on Swift Creek pottery, ca. AD 200-800, found on sites throughout the Deep South. Swift Creek's curvilinear designs, which were carved onto wooden paddles and subsequently stamped onto pottery vessels, offer insights into networks of exchange, ritual, and mobility at an unprecedented level of granularity when paddle matches are found across archaeological contexts, as they so often are. Limitations of time, design expertise, and collections access have been the primary impediments to advancement in the study of these pre-Columbian networks, for which design matches provide unequivocal evidence. SnowVision will increase the speed by which researchers are able to identify design matches from different archaeological sites. This will, in turn, incentivize the digitization of understudied collections. By making the software and related pottery sherd images available online, SnowVision also will increase the reach of collections curated in different museums. Dissemination of the designs will continue to raise awareness of the deep decorative traditions of our Nation's indigenous communities. Sherd images will be archived with Open Context, where sherd data can be leveraged with data from other research projects.