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Oct. 17th Tech Talk on Photogrammetry Gives Fascinating Insight Into Practical 3D Imaging

October 27, 2017
Tech Talk on Photogrammetry

Ever wondered how to make a 3D photograph of your favorite pair of old boots? Rock art? Human skulls? Perhaps a to-scale 3D image of a historic site you need to document as part of your dissertation research? Photogrammetry is the imaging process you are looking for!

Anthropology’s Caroline VanSickle (Visiting Assistant Professor) and Archaeology’s Matthew Jameson (A.B.D.) and Sarah Luckey (M.A. Candidate) recently gave an informative overview of the photogrammetry process and its practical applications for students and faculty at Bryn Mawr College.

Photogrammetry is the process of turning two dimensional photographs into three dimensional images. This entails the collection of dozens, sometimes hundreds of high quality photographs of a subject from all angles to produce one final composite image that gives the illusion of three dimensions. The process is one of the most accurate and precise methods of measuring visualizing objects as well as cultural and historic sites. The resulting model allows for the permanent digital documentation of a subject as much as it is a viable method of visualizing and analyzing a subject in fine detail. Thus, the technology has broad appeal for anthropologists, archaeologists, art historians, and special collections curators - making this talk seminar particularly apt for Bryn Mawr College’s academic community.

Caroline VanSickle has since been utilizing photogrammetry to document the physical remains of hominids as part of her wider work on the skeletal anatomy of early humans. Matthew and Sarah have been using photogrammetry to create 3D models of objects in Bryn Mawr College’s Special Collections selected for the upcoming exhibition Fragmentary Excess: Body, Text, Receptacle (Nov. 3 – Dec. 22, 2017).

The talk was part of an ongoing initiative to train academics from the college in the photogrammetry process. This past June, Dr. Caroline VanSickle, Matthew Jameson, and Sarah Luckey participated in a week long intensive training seminar on photogrammetry held at Bryn Mawr College. The seminar was given by experts from Cultural Heritage Imaging, a world leading non-profit organization dedicated to the digital documentation of cultural and historic sites and material culture. The June event drew interest from over a dozen attendees including faculty from LITS services and Anthropology and graduate students from the Graduate Group of History of Art, Archaeology, and Classics.

The October 17th talk was organized as part of Library & Information Technology Services’ ongoing “Tech Talk” series of seminars designed to bring to you current tech research news from around campus.

Watch the entire presentation here!