Schematic of a three-dimensional model.

This schematic shows how three-dimensional models of Totten Beacon remnants on the seafloor were rendered from a series of two-dimensional images taken from different angles. Click image for larger view.

Digital 3D Photogrammetry - Totten Beacons Project

Digital 3D photogrammetry is based on the principle of “structure through motion,” whereby an object or scene is rendered as a three-dimensional model from a series of multiple perspectives. When people see three-dimensionally, it is a result of having two offset eyes to see stereoscopically, and as they move, the brain constantly recalculates the unfolding multiple angles to interpret the structure, shape, and dimensions of the scene and its objects. Photogrammetry utilizes this principle to render multi-perspective, overlapping, two-dimensional digital images into a three-dimensional model. When photographs are created from all angles and perspectives around an object, they can be processed through special photogrammetry software to render a digital representation of the entire piece. The resulting 3D model can then be displayed on a computer screen and viewed from all angles by the person exploring it. During the 2014 Totten Beacon survey, twelve 3D models of a variety of aspects of the now-underwater 19th century aids-to-navigation were created.

As part of the Totten Beacons Project, Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society’s Director of Archaeology Corey Malcom employed multi-image photogrammetry to create 3D images of beacon remains on the seafloor.

 

 

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