Visualizing knowledge about virtual reconstructions of ancient architecture

Abstract

One of the assumptions of current software for visualizing architecture is that the underlying geometry is a correct, objective and complete representation of the objects in question. However, we argue that such an ideal situation can hardly be met. Instead, there are a variety of situations in which there is considerable uncertainty associated with some features of a model. Furthermore, the model usally stems from design decisions which are not encoded in the model but which may be important for users. We argue that more information about geometric models should be representable and visualizable. In particular, we propose non-photorealistic rendering styles for encoding such additional information in a visualization of a 3D model which goes over and above the geometry. We then apply this concept to visualizations of virtual reconstructions of ancient architecture. Finally, we describe the prototypical system AncientVis, which represents an approach to visualizing models with uncertain features.