![[3030RGB Digitizing Head]](../../methodology/3d/3030.jpg)
ARI has formed a partnership with PRISM (Partnership for Research in Stereo Modeling), a multi-disciplinary research group dedicated to advancing three-dimensional modeling and visualization techniques. Using 3D laser digitizers, it is possible to obtain a three-dimensional computer model of an artifact. Several passes of the scanner head are required to view the entire surface of the object.The scanner software then produces a three-dimensional "cloud" of points representing data points accross the surface of the object. A 15 inch color laser digitizer was purchased in Summer 97, expanding the capabilities of the existing 6 inch digitizer. The digitizers are produced by Cyberware and are driven by proprietary software running on Silicon Graphics' IRIX operating system.
Custom software developed by PRISM then produces a geometric surface from the point data and maps the color and texture of the object to the surface reference points. The result is a 3D computer model which, although appearing much like a photo, can actually be rotated, measured, and manipulated electronically.
3D modeling is an important resource for the preservation of artifacts. An article in the Spring 1999 issue of ASU Research highlights the utility of this technology in archiving archaeological objects. A collection of funerary objects from the Roosevelt archaeology projects conducted in Central Arizona and curated at ARI were repatriated in the Summer of 1999 to Native American groups through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) procedures. Charles Redman says,"These objects are being removed from future studies, probably forever. This presents a very difficult situation for archaeologists, because it eliminates a large number of objects from new technologies, future studies, and approaches we don't know today. This is made more urgent by the fact that objects interred with the dead often have special meaning. They are often the most complete objects," (from ASU Research, Spring 1999). Before returning the objects, many were digitized and saved in a computer file preserving vessel morphology and decoration for "virtual" curation and study.
3D technology is a new realm for data analysis, and there are few analytical tools available that allow comparison among three dimensional objects. PRISM has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation's Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence (KDI) program to research and develop applications for modeling, classifying, and analyzing 3D objects. The project: 3D Knowledge: Acquisition, Representation, and Analysis in a Distributed Environment or 3DK, is an inter-disciplinary effort supported by five colleges and the office of the Vice-Provost for Research.