Recreating the Past

Recent developments in computer graphics and interactive techniques are providing powerful tools for modeling multi-dimensional aspects of data gathered by archaeologists. This course addresses the problems associated with reconstructing archaeological and heritage sites with computer systems and evaluating the realism of the resultant models. The crucial questions: are the results misleading, and are we in fact misinterpreting the past.
Prerequisites
An interest in "recreating the past" and a basic knowledge of computer graphics. No prior knowledge of laser scanning, lighting simulation, or visual perception evaluation is assumed, although it is helpful.

Topics
Creating models of archaeological sites, including laser scanning; very realistic lighting simulation; quantifying the realism of the results using human visual perception and psychophysical methods; valid interpretation of the results by archaeologists and general public. All topics are illustrated by case studies.

Organizers
Alan Chalmers
Kate Devlin
University of Bristol