ABSTRACT the Ruins of Great Zimbabwe Are a Unique Testimony to the Bantu Civilization of the Shona Between the 11Th and 15Th Centuries (UNESCO, 2010)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ABSTRACT The ruins of Great Zimbabwe are a unique testimony to the Bantu civilization of the Shona between the 11th and 15th centuries (UNESCO, 2010). The study focuses on how the use of virtual environments can be applied to cultural heritage sites in the country as a way of increasing awareness and portraying the cultural diversity and significance of these sites. The 3D model developed by Heinz Ruther (2008) was used, with his permission, as the foundation for an interactive virtual tour of the Great Enclosure. As the model was drawn from range scanner data, the work entailed cleaning and repairing to remove redundant points and restore missing or deformed sections of the site. Texture maps were then developed and applied to dress the site resulting in a photorealistic approximation of the Great Enclosure. Various viewpoints and lighting were then placed in the site to facilitate navigation within the scene. However, limitations were realized in the hardware platform particularly with reference to the limited graphics card memory that acted as a bottleneck for the successful development of the 3D model as the number of polygons increased. Ideally, therefore, a hardware platform with higher specifications is therefore expected to give greater performance and better results. Additional work is therefore necessary to optimize the model, incorporate audio/visual cues and enhance the interactive nature of the resulting tool. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Great appreciation goes to my supervisor, Gilford Hapanyengwi, for providing much needed guidance throughout the duration of the study. The Computer Science department was instrumental in directing my efforts through constructive criticism advice. Special note goes to my wife for being there in what were sometimes long nights providing moral support and her insight as a non-technical reviewer of my work. In addition, many thanks to Nephas Mfutumari, a brother and a friend, whose encouragement led to the eventual continuation and finalization of this study. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iii Table of figures ......................................................................................................................... vi Tables ..................................................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1. Background ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Research Focus ............................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Overall Research Aim and Individual Research Objectives ....................................... 3 1.4. Value of this Research................................................................................................. 3 1.5. Delimitations and Limitations of Study ...................................................................... 5 1.6. Outline Structure ......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................. 6 Chapter 3: Research Methodology..................................................................................... 6 Chapter 4: Modeling of the Great Enclosure ..................................................................... 6 Chapter 5: Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 6 References .......................................................................................................................... 7 Appendix A: Glossary........................................................................................................ 7 Appendix B: Criteria for selection of World Heritage sites .............................................. 7 CHAPTER 2. Literature review ........................................................................................... 8 2.1. Application of 3D in Cultural heritage ........................................................................ 8 2.2. The Great Zimbabwe National Monument ................................................................. 8 2.3. Historical Significance ................................................................................................ 9 2.4. Architecture of the Great Enclosure ............................................................................ 9 iii 2.5. 3D Visualization in Cultural Heritage ....................................................................... 12 2.5.1. Rationale behind 3D Visualization of Cultural Heritage Sites .......................... 12 2.5.2. The African Cultural Heritage and Landscape Database Project ...................... 12 2.6. Summary: Emerging Issues and the need for additional research ............................ 15 CHAPTER 3. Research Methodology ............................................................................... 17 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 17 3.2. Research Strategy ...................................................................................................... 17 3.3. Data Acquisition ........................................................................................................ 18 3.3.1. Site Selection ..................................................................................................... 18 3.3.2. Development Platform ....................................................................................... 19 3.3.3. Texture Development......................................................................................... 19 3.4. Framework for Data Analysis ................................................................................... 19 3.5. Limitations and Potential Problems .......................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 4. Modeling of the Great Enclosure................................................................ 23 4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 23 4.2. Cleaning the 3D Model ............................................................................................. 23 4.3. Mesh Reconstruction ................................................................................................. 24 4.3.1. Closing Holes in MeshLab................................................................................. 24 4.3.2. From MeshLab to 3Ds Max ............................................................................... 26 4.3.3. Exploding the Mesh ........................................................................................... 29 4.4. Texture Development ................................................................................................ 30 4.4.1. Texturing Challenges ......................................................................................... 33 4.5. View Points and Navigation ...................................................................................... 34 4.6. Storyboarding virtual paths through the Great Enclosure ......................................... 35 4.7. Embedding audio and visual cues for highlights in the scene ................................... 37 4.8. Publishing the completed work to the web using VRML ......................................... 37 4.6. Summary ................................................................................................................... 38 iv CHAPTER 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 39 5.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 39 5.2. Research Objectives: Summary of Findings and Conclusions ................................. 39 5.2.1. To translate 3D spatial data into a working 3D environment ............................ 40 5.2.2. To develop and apply photorealistic textures to the 3D environment ............... 40 5.2.3. Storyboarding virtual paths through the Great Enclosure .................................. 40 5.2.4. Embedding audio and visual cues for highlights in the scene ........................... 40 5.2.5. Publishing completed work to the web using VRML ........................................ 41 5.2.6. Publishing of a research paper on the work done .............................................. 41 5.3. Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 41