3D model making using photogrammetry

By Charles Cattel-Killick, 3D Model Making Project:

In the Spring of 2016 I approached the Novium following research for my final year project of Sustainable Product Design at Falmouth University. I was looking into the use of technology in museums for conservation and outreach for the purposes of both education and health and wellbeing. 

The product I was working on was an interactive tool that would enable users to manipulate a 3D model using a handheld 'orb' containing a gyroscope and accelerometer as well as opportunities for producing interactive 3D printed maquettes. I wanted to learn more about the world of museums and conservation and also work through the process of handling, photographing and processing real artefacts from a collection, not just models downloaded from the web. 

The Novium kindly allowed me to spend a day photographing a set of hand picked artefacts which I later processed using Agisoft Photoscan to create the 3D models. This process is called photogrammetry and requires photos to be taken from multiple angles around the object which can then be digitally stitched together to produce the 3D model; these models can then be uploaded online via platforms such as Sketchfab offering a great means for people to see and explore objects within a collection anywhere in the world. 

I learnt a great deal in a short space of time working on the project and it was a real thrill to get up close and personal with objects from the museum's collection. The interactive orb worked as intended and was on display at the New Designers exhibition in 2016. 

I have since become much more capable in the production of 3D models and get the opportunity to digitise many exciting artefacts through my work with Museum in a Box, a role which came about partly through the work done in this particular project and to which I am grateful to the Novium's staff for offering their time and resources to make it all happen. 

To view the digitised 3D models from the project check out either: https://sketchfab.com/novium or https://sketchfab.com/charlescattelkillick

To see the product outcome called 'Orbis' check out: https://www.artsthread.com/portfolios/orbis-interactiveartefacts/