3D Technologies R&D has created an interactive realtime 3D application for exploring Estonia’s sandstone caves: the Piusa caverns.
Virtual caves
The providers of interactive applications for realtime 3D visualisation have modelled the Piusa caverns, a system of unique sandstone caves located in South-Eastern Estonia using laserscanning techniques.
The project emerged after the majority of the caverns were closed to the public in 2006. As a result, the local government looked at new ways to introduce the attraction. This ended up being a new visitor centre, equipped with an interactive 3D virtual cave experience.
The process
First, the caves were laserscanned using a Leica scanner. Consisting of a series of pillars, the caves had to be scanned individually to cover the hidden points.
The scanning took 3 days to complete and point clouds were then processed and integrated into a mesh.
The pointcloud was cleaned, simplified and triangulated for use in Luxology’s modo app. The 3D artist then used photos, transforming them for use on the 3D models.
The result
The caves are now presented as an interactive real-time 3D model where visitors can hover around using a 32″ touch-screen.
The solution helps present the caverns for the public to understand the structure and nature of the caves despite them now being closed.
As a result, the visitor centre has benefited from the publicity of housing the innovative approach to presenting historical sites.
View more pictures from the Piusa caves project
3D Technologies R&D website
Posted on Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 4:16 pm under Showcase, Visualisation. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: Architecture, Illustration, interactive, Luxology, modo, realtime
The world's leading magazine for CG artists Subscribe Now
