A SAR-based interactive digital exhibition of Korean cultural artifacts

Digital reconstruction and exhibition of cultural heritages have been actively explored in recent years due to the advancement of AR techniques and the development of software and hardware of camera and projector systems. In addition, realistic representation of material appearance is greatly improved by the advancement in computer graphics research. For example, polynomial texture maps (PTM) and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) are being efficiently employed to represent heterogeneous materials that often have been the characteristics of cultural artifacts. Although advanced computer graphics technology can generate realistic results, an exhibition of cultural heritage is still a challenging task. This is because experiencing these reconstructed digital replicas of the cultural artifacts through a traditional display system could inhibit immersive experience due to its contrived impression. In this paper, we present a novel interactive digital exhibition system based on the spatial augmented reality, which can authentically represent and explore cultural artifacts using polynomial texture maps and projection mapping techniques. Experimental results show that our digital exhibition system generates realistic scenes, representing Korean cultural artifacts authentically, and well provides immersive experience through user interaction.