Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Professor Hess and Carla Ferreyra | University of Bamberg

Background
With the adoption of digital technologies such as laser scanning, photogrammetry and other digital tools becoming ever more prevalent in conservation and preservation; it is easy to see why, in 2017, the University of Bamberg launched a new master’s degree, ‘Digital Technologies in
Heritage Conservation’. Spearheaded by Professor Mona Hess, the course covers the integration and adoption of digital technologies in heritage conservation and its further development, as well as raising the profile of this research topic. In addition to running the course, Professor Hess and her team often employ their skills and expertise in the field, creating 3D digital models for preservation purposes, to build knowledge of certain areas or to educate a wider audience about a new culture.

“The 3D recording is a methodological tool for the representation and interpretation of cultural heritage, landscape and architecture, to build knowledge, create meaning and make culture accessible to all.“

The Scan
In 2020, Professor Hess was approached by ‘Cisterscapes | Cistercian Landcapes in Central Europe’ and was tasked with contributing to the digital recordings of 2 gardens. The scan would focus on the baroque agricultural buildings with designed gardens; Ebracher Hof in Mainstockheim and Ebracher Hof in Oberschwappach, both properties of the Ebrach Monastery.

The aim of the scan was to create reliable information, assess the landscapes development status and design management plans for maintenance and conservation. Professor Hess, accompanied by PHD student Carla Ferreyra, visited the sites in October 2020 to conduct the scans. With approximately 3 hectares of land to cover, the team needed a SLAM scanning solution that was quick, easy to use, suitable for both indoor/outdoor use and a solution with reliable results. Professor Hess chose GeoSLAMs ZEB Horizon with the ZEB Pano, because of the rapid data acquisition throughout the site up to 100m.

Other laser scanning techniques were considered in the planning process, however none quite provided the freedom the ZEB Horizon did, often
with restrictions around mobility and time. In September 2020, a similar scan had taken place using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) of a specific
area of the Mainstockheim garden. In comparison, the GeoSLAM scanner reduced the time and labour costs when completing the scan. The team were able to complete their scan of Mainstockheim (including an interior space of the baroque building) in just under 3 hours.

In Oberschwappach, the total scan time was approximately 30 minutes. Their only concern during the scan was encountering the general public, however due to the lightweight nature of the ZEB Horizon and Pano, it was easy to avoid busier parts of the garden. Where they did encounter other guests (due to their curiosity over the scanner) Professor Hess and Carla simply repeated the scan of that specific area. All in all, the scan was a success, and Professor Hess and Carla were able to deliver on their task.

The Results
With the completion of the scan, not only does Professor Hess have fresh scan data that can be used to educate the next generation on how
digital technologies can be used in heritage conservation, but they are also being used to extract 2D information, such as orthophotos, plans
and sections in 1:50 scale and BIM models. Furthermore, videos of the scan were created – these serve as informational and educational
pieces of content. Finally, the scans serve to raise awareness of these historic gardens, promote a scientifically accurate recording and also makes the heritage accessible to all. Professor Hess is currently using the scanner and scans for research & teaching, and she has observed that a lot of her students are enthusiastic about the speed of the process.

Looking Forward
In 2021 Professor Hess is looking to extend the project further at Ebrach Abbey and the gardens, to contribute to the Cistercian Cultural Heritage
project. Additionally, she is looking to create a digital twin model of a historic city using the ZEB Horizon, to research semantic 3D city models with
information about urban heritage in the project ‘BIM to Twin’.

Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Here’s some helpful tips for the best viewing experience

Would you like to see a specific dataset that’s not on this page? Contact [email protected]

Singapore is home to some of the most profitable financial services, manufacturing and oil-refining corporations in the world. But with its accomplishments come some very specific challenges for a city-state which is limited by space but still demanding growth.

Determined to future-proof Singapore’s success, the country has embarked on one of the most ambitious digital twinning projects the world has ever seen – creating a dynamic 3D city model and collaborative data platform, including 3D maps of the region.

At the initial stage of the project it quickly became apparent that aerial imagery alone would not be able to capture ‘void decks’ – open spaces typically found on the ground floor of the city’s apartment blocks. These areas, which are sometimes underneath the tower block structure, are used for everything from games areas, bicycle parking, hosting wedding receptions and wakes, and, as estates grow, facilities such as shops, medical centres and even schools.

In the face of fierce competition, GeoSLAM’s ZEB Revo was selected as the most innovative and efficient solution to collect data from these important community spaces.

“A huge time saving exercise which would ordinarily have taken 40 times longer using traditional surveying methods“

With a handheld “go-anywhere” ZEB Revo, field teams quickly captured a dense and accurate point cloud of an entire void deck, which was then used to model the deck geometry and incorporate this into the existing building models.

376 buildings with void decks were scanned using the ZEB Revo, taking approximately 100 hours – an enormous time-saving exercise which would ordinarily have taken up to 40 times longer using traditional surveying methods.

The ZEB Revo is often used alongside terrestrial hardware as the products are highly complementary. The data output can be easily combined through geo-referencing or scan-to-scan matching and then used to build complete 3D models. In this instance, the combination delivered highly detailed and rapid results while significantly minimising costs too.

Oxford Archaeology | Words by Jamie Quartermaine

“48 hours to scan three historic sites in Israel – ambitious or impossible? Equipped with a handheld 3D mapping device from GeoSLAM, we were determined to find out. Our first stop was the Schneller building in Jerusalem. In its 160 year history it has been used as an orphanage, barracks and ammunition arsenal. A few years ago, an archaeological team unearthed the remains of a Roman bath house and winery underneath the site. The next stage of the building’s history is a conversion into a museum of Judaism – hence the requirement for a complete, high-accuracy survey of the site.

Made up of four floors, 130 rooms, an outer courtyard and a number of stables, we needed to work quickly to scan the entire site. Using the handheld ‘go-anywhere’ ZEB Revo, in three – 30 minute scans he captured the entire building, including survey control points to georeference the data. Using traditional scanners, this would have taken several weeks and involved multiple set-ups.

“With the ZEB Revo, what use to take weeks can now be done in hours“

Next stop was an elegant and beautiful 12th century Benedictine monastery. With no more than 30 minutes between the end of the Vespers – the evening service – and the time when the public would be allowed into the monastery, we carried out a quick reconnaissance and accurately captured the unique domed building, only possible using GeoSLAM’s ’go-anywhere’ device.

Final port of call was a delapidated 19th-century merchant house in the ancient Arab town of Jaffa. The challenge here was to record the building while construction works were in progress, with hoardings and scaffolding obscuring structures. A near impossible task, but the ZEB Revo was still able to collect survey-grade data in a matter of hours, which formed the basis of a working record of elevations, sections and plans.

In under 48 hours Jamie had captured highly accurate 3D images of 3 heritage buildings. Proof indeed that with the ZEB Revo, what used to take weeks can now be done in hours.

University of Arizona GIS Program | Words by Prof. Chris Lukinbeal

Between tours and filming, Old Tucson Studios is a dynamic environment that couldn’t shut down to accommodate our University of Arizona 3D scanning team. With the equivalent of four city blocks and dozens of building exteriors and interiors to scan, we had to move fast. The team relied on the ZEB Horizon mobile scanner equipped with the ZEB Cam to quickly and accurately capture the geometry, architecture and appearance of the film set.

We want film buffs to experience Old Tucson Studios the way it looked during its heyday when some of Hollywood’s biggest Western movies were filmed there. The colorized point clouds generated with the GeoSLAM devices will serve as the core data set upon which 3D models, and eventually, Virtual and Augmented Reality experiences will be created. Archived air photos and drone imagery, as well as photogrammetric measurements pulled from original films, will also help us create digital versions of the movie studio at key points in its history.

The ‘Downtown Tucson’ main street and plaza stretch almost a quarter mile. Stationary scanners may seem like the obvious choice for long-range data capture, but there wasn’t time to set up and take down those types of devices. And we needed richer detail. Our scan technician held the mobile ZEB Horizon and moved quickly through the streets, dodging studio personnel and vehicles. She entered those buildings with real interiors and scanned them as well.

Scanning with the ZEB Cam adds context to the point cloud. The scanner with mounted camera was held steady at chest level. At each building, the technician stopped and pointed the device directly at the façade as if snapping a still photo, and then slowly turned around to scan the surroundings. This captured a rich 3D scan data set for each structure along with its context on the movie set.

“I’ve seen the quality of the point cloud and it’s amazing“

The entire Downtown Tucson portion of the studio was scanned in two hours. Afterwards, the technician processed the scans and video footage into a colorized point cloud running the ZEB Hub software on a standard laptop. Extraneous people and vehicles were filtered from the point clouds later with an open-source third-party software.

We will build 3D representations of the studio at major periods of its history – 1938 when it was built for the film Arizona, the 1950s and 60s when four John Wayne Westerns were shot there, and the mid-1990s just before a devastating fire. This will require merging the 3D models of today with archived air photos and film photogrammetry to re-create buildings that no longer exist.

In the future, you will be able to walk the Old Tucson Studios lot wearing a VR headset and ‘see’ how the site looked during filming of epic motion pictures such as Rio Bravo, Gunfight at OK the Coral, and Tombstone. Who knows? John Wayne himself might swagger out of the saloon doors right in front of you.

Geotopo | Words by Samuel Duhaussay

Alongside our work in land management, engineering and rail sectors, our teams dedicate time for architecture and heritage projects, working to preserve just some of the 40,000 listed historic monuments in France alone. As a geospatial technology specialist, we are aware of the great significance many of our historical monuments hold.

One of the most famous, located at the tip of the Champs-Elysees in central Paris, is the Arc de Triomphe. In order to demonstrate to the Parisian crowds the precision and speed of scanning technology, we enlisted the help of GeoSLAM’s ZEB Horizon.

Recognised as the centre of Paris for its position on the iconic roundabout, and measuring 50m tall, 45m wide and 22m deep, access to the Arc is limited. Yet with the ZEB Horizon and its ability to capture distant elements at a range of 100 metres, the handheld scanner proved to be an effective companion for the project.

“The ZEB Horizon was not only fast, but discreet and easy to operate in such a busy environment“

With approximately 600,000 visitors per year, accessing the site with a static scanner would be difficult. In order to carry out the survey, the operator walked around the Arc, returning to complete a figure of eight shape, all in one fluid motion and after ten minutes data capture was complete.

Achieving the same results with a static scanner would have taken considerably longer due to the numerous set-ups and the time it takes to complete each scan. The ZEB Horizon was not only fast, but discreet and easy to operate in such a busy environment.

GeoSLAM technology was at the top of our list to scan the Arc, primarily due to its accuracy, ‘on-the-go’ method of data collection and fast application. In just 10 minutes of data capture, we obtained 10 million cloud points with 2cm accuracy – together depicting the engravings of war victories as designed by architect, Guillaume Abel Blouet in 1833.

Its ability to capture 300,000 points per second made the ZEB Horizon our technology of choice. Understanding the project’s restrictions due to location and popularity, we’re delighted with the outcome, which demonstrates the importance of mobile mapping devices to historical buildings such as this.