3D Digitization of Selected Collection Items Using Photometric Stereo

Digitization of exhibits and the creation of virtual exhibitions is undergoing a period of stormy development and is a dynamic area of care for museum collections. The availability of digital models has a major share in the growing trend of on-line access to collections. At the same time, digitization can improve the protection of items and increase their availability for the public as well as for professionals. It can be performed using procedures based on different physical principles and their technical implementation, with different requirements for the captured objects and different quality levels of the achieved outputs. This paper introduces a technique of 3D digitization based on the principle of photometric stereo. First, it describes typical objects, followed by the physical fundamentals of the method and the selected technical solution. A section on the examples of results introduces the application of this method for creating digital models of various objects and, finally, the conclusion contains contemplations on further development of this method in the future.