SD&A 2020: Processing legacy underwater stereophotography for new applications
This 3D presentation was delivered at the 31st annual Stereoscopic Displays and Applications conference (27-29 January 2020) held in Burlingame, CA USA. For more information see: http://stereoscopic.org
Title: Processing legacy underwater stereophotography for new applications (SD&A-141)
Speaker: Andrew Woods, Curtin University (Australia)
Abstract: In 1841 the merchant vessel “James Matthews” wrecked off the coast of Western Australia, 5 km south of Fremantle, at a location now known as Woodman’s Point. The wreck was discovered in 1973 and over a period of four summer expeditions from 1973 to 1977, the wreck was excavated and extensively photographed before being reburied. A total of 1652 underwater photographs were captured of the site and many of these were stereoscopic pairs – either captured with a pair of cameras mounted with a separation of 25cm, or with a single camera by way of overlap with sequentially captured photographs. At the time of the expedition, the extensive photography was captured with the intent of producing 2D photomosaics, assist in the production of detailed line-drawings, allow stereoscopic viewing of the site, and additionally allow the measurement of point-to-point distances on the site using (traditional) photogrammetry. In 1841 the merchant vessel “James Matthews” wrecked off the coast of Western Australia, 5 km south of Fremantle, at a location now known as Woodman’s Point. The wreck was discovered in 1973 and over a period of four summer expeditions from 1973 to 1977, the wreck was excavated and extensively photographed before being reburied. A total of 1652 underwater photographs were captured of the site and many of these were stereoscopic pairs – either captured with a pair of cameras mounted with a separation of 25cm, or with a single camera by way of overlap with sequentially captured photographs. At the time of the expedition, the extensive photography was captured with the intent of producing 2D photomosaics, assist in the production of detailed line-drawings, allow stereoscopic viewing of the site, and additionally allow the measurement of point-to-point distances on the site using (traditional) photogrammetry. So far we have been able to successfully process two significant sections of the wreck site into two photo-realistic and detailed digital 3D models of sections of the wreck site. The digital 3D models reveal the true three-dimensional nature of the site, and can be viewed stereoscopically using a suitable stereoscopic display.
Biography: Andrew Woods is an Associate Professor at Curtin University where he Manages the University's HIVE Visualisation Facility and is a Research Engineer at the Centre for Marine Science & Technology. He specialises in visualisation, stereoscopic 3D imaging, 3D reconstruction, 3D cameras and displays, underwater vehicles (ROVs) and engineering software development, with applications in offshore oil and gas, and maritime archaeology. He was the technology lead on the Sydney-Kormoran Project which surveyed the wrecks of HMAS Sydney (II) and HSK Kormoran in 2015, and imaging lead for the survey of the wreck of HMAS AE1 in 2018. In 2017 he was recognised as one of Australia's Most Innovative Engineers by Engineers Australia.
© 2020, Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T)