New system shows missing elements of ancient artifacts

A new system that looks at ancient artifacts can bring back to life missing elements such as carvings rubbed away by time or colours that have faded.
The system, called Revealing Flashlight, projects computer-generated models on to real objects, filling in missing details wherever its spotlight lands.
The system has been piloted at the Allard Pierson Museum at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where it illuminated lost pigmentation on a fragment from an Egyptian tomb.
It has also been used to highlight the contours of a 3D-printed replica of a statue of Isis from the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and to help viewers decipher inscriptions on an Egyptian stela.

Patrick Reuter, the project's lead researcher at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation in Bordeaux, uses common scanning techniques like structured-light 3D scanning or photogrammetry, to create a computer model of an object.
This helps identify important curves and ridges in the object, or missing elements, that could be important to emphasise in the virtual, projected version, 'New Scientist' reported.

When a museum visitor wants to look at an ancient artifact with the aid of the Revealing Flashlight, a LeapMotion gesture-sensing controller tracks where the viewer is pointing by analysing their hand in 3D.
A projector on the floor in front of the artifact uses this information to direct the flashlight's projection on to the correct spot.

The team said the flashlight could be a valuable tool for archaeologists. By projecting computer-modelling information directly on to objects, it might help researchers piece broken artifacts together or connect hard-to-read engravings.