Enhancing color texture quality of 3D models for digital preservation of indigenous ceramic artworks

We present a contribution to the digital preservation of artworks made by the Wauja and Karaja indians; both communities acknowledged for their expertise in ceramic artworks and the symbolism embedded in their art. Our goal is to enhance the texture color quality of 3D models obtained from color and depth images of a laser scanner. Although laser scanners offer high-performance regarding depth information, the color information is still poor and limits the generation of realistic texture. We propose a method through which we add color information obtained from a high resolution digital camera to solve this limitation. Thus, our approach generates texture maps for 3D models by using color data obtained from triplets of: (1) high resolution photographs captured by a digital camera; and (2) color and (3) range images captured by a laser scanner. For each triplet, we calculate a partial texture map for the 3D model. Then, we merge all partial maps based on weights we have defined to reflect the reliability of each partial texture map pixel. We present several results of preserved artworks with realistic and enhanced quality texture maps. The 3D models can be visualized through a tool we developed to support the virtual exhibition of the artworks.