An Open Api for 3d-Georeferenced Historical Pictures

Abstract

Abstract. In this article we describe the possibilities and opportunities of the utilization of 3D georeferenced historical images in different contexts. In the frame of an ongoing research project that aims at establishing a national infrastructure for georeferenced pictures, we have created an open API that allows researchers and developers to access and interact with an existing database containing 200’000 3D-georeferenced images. In this database images have been georeferenced by volunteers in 3D using monoplotting. The new API allows for instance to extract the 3D geolocation of images and their footprints as well as to upload new images. It is as far as possible based on existing standards in the fields of archive management, 3D image standards and web-services. This work is of interest for researchers who want to utilize and analyze 3D georeferenced historical imagery and for people who want to establish open API’s to give access to data that is relevant for research.

Recommended 3D Workflow for Digital Heritage Practices

“…While images still play an important role in industrial and scientific research, the challenge of storage and dissemination of digitized or native 3D images is gaining momentum and is now a very substantial part of the data that organizations and research projects generate. 3D data provides many opportunities for applications that can significantly contribute to knowledge transfer [1] and data analysis [2]. Yet the generated output files are extremely voluminous and not suitable for seamless viewing.…”

“…Over the last decade, 3D digitization technologies have become an important part in the cultural heritage sector for the documentation and visualization of originals and spread beyond its main application area of archaeology [8,9] over to other humanities disciplines [10]. While large corporations such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei, or Meta strive to make the scanning and use of 3D objects via mobile apps as simple as possible for the mass consumer, professional 3D digitization methodology appears to continue to rely on long-established technologies such as Image-based modeling (e.g., SfM Photogrammetry and Multiview Stereo) or laser-, light-and LiDAR-scanners, as well as the associated, most of the time commercial software [11, p. 31] 2 The dependency on established technologies made it possible to evaluate the methods for a wide range of applications and to develop best practices for the practical digitization process, which are aimed at achieving an optimal result with regard to the prerequisites of the respective technology [13,14,15,16,17,18].…”