Vision metrology and Structure from Motion for archaeological heritage 3D reconstruction: a Case Study of various Roman mosaics

Vision metrology and computer vision can be successfully used for archaeological heritage 3D reconstruction in very high precision 3D measurement projects. Of those archaeological objects requiring very accurate measurements (<1 mm), ancient mosaics comprise some of the most important. The aim of this paper is to assess the photogrammetric/computer vision approach in a vision metrology context as part of a 3D mosaics survey. In order to evaluate the optimal photogrammetric/computer vision workflow in this work, three different surveys were performed on three mosaics of different sizes and locations. Two of these are stored at the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo (Italy) and the other is located at the Baglio Anselmi Regional Archaeological Museum in Marsala (Italy). The mosaics survey was undertaken in order to obtain a very detailed 3D model and a full-scale ortho-image (scale 1:1), which would be useful for documentation and restoration processes. The research involved an evaluation of the potential and the related issues of the photogrammetric/computer vision approach for 3D mosaic documentation, particularly regarding the issue of camera calibration.