The GigaMesh Software Framework is a

free and open-source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

for display, editing and visualization of 3D-data typically acquired with

structured light A structured light pattern designed for surface inspection An Automatix Seamtracker arc welding robot equipped with a camera and structured laser light source, enabling the robot to follow a welding seam automatically Structured light is the p ...

structure from motion Structure from motion (SfM) is a photogrammetric range imaging technique for estimating three-dimensional structures from two-dimensional image sequences that may be coupled with local motion signals. It is studied in the fields of computer visio ...

. It provides numerous functions for analysis of

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

objects like cuneiform tablets,

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

or converted

LiDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

data. Typically applications are unwrappings (or rollouts), profile cuts (or cross sections) as well as visualizations of

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

s and

curvature In mathematics, curvature is any of several strongly related concepts in geometry. Intuitively, the curvature is the amount by which a curve deviates from being a straight line, or a surface deviates from being a plane. For curves, the canonic ...

, which can be exported as

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

vector graphics Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display a ...

. The retrieval of text in 3D like damaged cuneiform tablets or

weathered ''Weathered'' is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until '' Full Circle'' came out in October 2009, with Creed disbanding in June 2004. It is the only Cr ...

medieval

headstones A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

using Multi Scale Integral Invariant (MSII)

filtering Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component tha ...

is a core function of the software. Furthermore, small or faint surface details like

fingerprints A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surf ...

can be visualized. The polygonal meshes of the 3D-models can be inspected, cleaned and repaired to provide optimal filtering results. The repaired datasets are suitable for

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...

and for

digital publishing Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editing ...

in a

dataverse The Dataverse is an open source web application to share, preserve, cite, explore and analyze research data. Researchers, data authors, publishers, data distributors, and affiliated institutions all receive appropriate credit via a data citation w ...

Name and logo

The name "GigaMesh" refers to processing of large 3D-datasets and relates intentionally to the mythical

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...

ian king

Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assyr ...

and his heroic epic described on a set of clay tablets. The central element of the logo is the

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

sign 𒆜 (kaskal) meaning street or

road junction A junction is where two or more roads meet. History Roads began as a means of linking locations of interest: towns, forts and geographic features such as river fords. Where roads met outside of an existing settlement, these junctions often led ...

, which symbolizes the intersection of the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

. The surrounding circle refers to the integral

invariant Invariant and invariance may refer to: Computer science * Invariant (computer science), an expression whose value doesn't change during program execution ** Loop invariant, a property of a program loop that is true before (and after) each iteratio ...

computation using a

spherical A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

. The red color is derived of

carmine Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium complex derived from carminic acid. Specific code n ...

, the color used by the Heidelberg University, where GigaMesh is developed.

Development and application in research projects

The development began in 2009 and was inspired by the edition project ''Keilschrifttexte aus

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...

literarischen Inhalts'' (KAL, cuneiform texts with literary content) of the

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The Academ ...

. In parallel it was applied within the Austrian

Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum ("corpus of ancient vases"; abbreviated CVA) is an international research project for documentation of ancient ceramics. Its original ideal target content: any ceramic from any ancient location during any archaeological p ...

of the Austrian Academy of Sciences for documentation of

red-figure pottery Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure vas ...

. Current projects are funded by the DFG and the

BMBF The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (german: link=no, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, ), abbreviated BMBF, is a cabinet-level ministry of Germany. It is headquartered in Bonn, with an office in Berlin. The Ministry provi ...

for contextualization and analysis of

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

and sealings of the Corpus der minoischen und mykenischen Siegel, where

Thin Plate Splines Thin plate splines (TPS) are a spline-based technique for data interpolation and smoothing. They were introduced to geometric design by Duchon. They are an important special case of a polyharmonic spline. Robust Point Matching (RPM) is a common ex ...

are used for comparing sealings. Analog to the developments for processing cuneiform tablets there are further approaches for adaption of the combined

Computer Vision Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the hum ...

and

Machine Learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

methods for other ''Scripts in 3D''. An example is the application within the

Text Database and Dictionary of Classic Mayan The project Text Database and Dictionary of Classic Mayan (abbr. TWKM) promotes research on the writing and language of pre-Hispanic Maya culture. It is housed in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bonn and was established with funding from th ...

. In 2017 GigaMesh was tested by the DAI at an excavation in Guadalupe, near

Trujillo, Honduras Trujillo is a city, with a population of 20,780 (2020 calculation), and a municipality on the northern Caribbean coast of the Honduran department of Colón, of which the city is the capital. The municipality had a population of about 30,000 ( ...

for immediate visualization of in-situ acquired findings with different 3D-scanners including a comparison with manual drawings. Since then GigaMesh is permanently used by the excavation team, their feedback led to numerous changes to the

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

, improving the user experience (UX). Additionally online tutorials are published having a focus on tasks required to compile excavation reports. The ''Scanning for Syria'' (SfS) project of the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

used GigaMesh in 2018 for 3D reconstruction of molds of tablets lost in ar-Raqqa,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

based on Micro-CT-scans. As a follow-up project the

TU Delft Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

acquired further Micro-CT-scans for virtually extracting clay tablets still wrapped into clay envelopes, which are unopened for thousands of years. In May 2020 the SfS project won the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage of the Europa Nostra in the category research. A first version (190416) for Windows was released in preparation of presentations about new functions shown at the international CAA 2019. The

command line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

of GigaMesh is well suited to process large amounts of 3D-measurement data within repositories. This was demonstrated with almost 2.000 cuneiform tablets of the

Hilprecht Collection Hermann Volrath Hilprecht (July 28, 1859 – March 19, 1925) was a Germany, German-United States, American Assyriology, Assyriologist and archaeologist. Biography Hilprecht was born in 1859 at Hohenerxleben (now a part of Staßfurt), German Confede ...

of the

Jena University The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

, which were processed and digitally published as benchmarkdatabase (HeiCuBeDa) for ''machine learning'' as well as database of images including 3D- and

meta-data Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

(HeiCu3Da) using

CC BY A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...

licenses. A baseline for period classification of tablets was established using a ''Geometric Neural Network'' being a

Convolutional Neural Network In deep learning, a convolutional neural network (CNN, or ConvNet) is a class of artificial neural network (ANN), most commonly applied to analyze visual imagery. CNNs are also known as Shift Invariant or Space Invariant Artificial Neural Netwo ...

typically used for 3D-datasets. The

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

showed GigaMesh based rollouts of an

Aryballos An aryballos (Greek: ἀρύβαλλος; plural aryballoi) was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece."aryballos" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., ...

from the collection of the KFU Graz representing the use of digital methods for research on

pottery of ancient Greece Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...

within the CVA project, which had its 100th anniversary in 2019. Renderings of the rollouts were on display in the second half of 2019 in the display case named ''L’ère du numèrique et de l’imagerie scientifique'' (the digital era and scientific imaging). Version 191219 supports

Texture maps Texture mapping is a method for mapping a texture on a computer-generated graphic. Texture here can be high frequency detail, surface texture, or color. History The original technique was pioneered by Edwin Catmull in 1974. Texture mapping ...

common for 3D-data captured using photogrammetry. This allows processing and in particular unwrapping of objects acquired with Structure-from-Motion widely used for documentation of

Cultural Heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...

and in archaeology. The

Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties The , also known by its former name, the Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties, is one of two research institutes that comprise the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, an independent administrative institution created in 2001. Est ...

in Japan adapted GigaMesh for documentation and rollouts of vessels and published a tutorial, which was used to implement the workflow for ceramics of the

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

within the

Togariishi Museum of Jōmon Archaeology 20px, Togariishi ruins The is a municipal museum located in the city of Chino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, specializing in artifacts of the Jōmon period (between 14,000 and 1000 BCE). Togariishi Museum of Jōmon Archaeology The museum was open ...

. In April 2020 the source code was published on

GitLab GitLab Inc. is an open-core company that operates GitLab, a DevOps software package which can develop, secure, and operate software. The open source software project was created by Ukrainian developer Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Dutch developer S ...

and the license changed from

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...

to the

GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general us ...

. Version 200529 allows for the first time to apply the MSII filter using the Graphical User Interface to visualize smallest details like fingerprints. The DFG funded ''edition of texts from

Haft Tepe Haft Tepe (also Haft Tape) is an archaeological site situated in the Khuzestan Province in south-western Iran. At this site the possible remains of the Elamite city of Kabnak were discovered in 1908, and excavations are still carried out. Histo ...

'' project is using MSII filtered renderings of tablets in the so-called ''fat-cross'' arrangement of side views.

File formats and research data infrastructures

Primarily the Polygon File Format is supported and used to store additional information from the processing. This is not possible with the - additionally supported - Wavefront OBJ due to its specification. The marking of interpolated points and triangles by filling voids in the triangular grid represents meta-information to be captured e.g. in the context of the

National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in Germany. Other metadata such as inventory numbers, material, and

hyperlinks In computing, a hyperlink, or simply a link, is a digital reference to data that the user can follow or be guided by clicking or tapping. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text wi ...

Digital Object Identifier A digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent identifier or handle used to uniquely identify various objects, standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). DOIs are an implementation of the Handle System; they a ...

s (DOIs) can be captured. In addition, there is the ability to calculate topological metrics that describe the quality of a 3D measurement dataset.

References

, cf. doi:10.11588/heidok.00026892 , KBytes: 48600 , KBytes: 900 , KBytes: 8700
heiDATA — IWR Computer Graphics Dataverse
in der

Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

External links

GigaMesh.eu
- website of the GigaMesh Software Frameworks including tutorials, publications and downloads
ResearchGate
- additional project website and blog
''Cuneur - Keilschrift beschriften''
an annotation tool for cuneiform tablets represented by renderings, images stacks and photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:GigaMesh Software Framework 2009 software 3D graphics software that uses Qt 3D modeling software for Linux Computer-aided design software for Linux Free 3D graphics software Free computer-aided design software Free graphics software Free software programmed in C++ Windows software Video game development software Computational archaeology 3D computer graphics software for Linux