PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS OF 3D WEB-SERVICES AND OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE FOR DIGITAL MODELING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS

Abstract

The Structure From Motion (SFM) algorithms derived from Computer Vision community make image-based techniques a competitive and user friendly approach to obtain 3D information of real objects. These algorithms have been implemented in many 3D web-services and open-source software to develop free instruments for the reconstruction of very detailed 3D digital models. Their use is becoming very common above all in archaeological studies but their potentiality for metric application has not been tested at all. The aim of the work is to investigate the quality and the accuracy of 3D models obtained through 3D web-services and SFM open-source software. Different tests have been performed using some 3D web-services (Autodesk 123D Catch, ARC3D, My3Dscanner) and one freeware software (VisualSFM). The 3D models have been compared to reference models obtained by photogrammetric and laser scanning techniques. The work has showed that in some situations these instruments could substitute photogrammetric and laser scanning techniques.