CGI Research

Three-dimensional, graphical computation plays a role in much of our research in the ACRG. Computer graphics are at the heart of research in the following areas:

Analysing archaeological field data.

Archaeological field data are three-dimensional. The archaeological record can be understood as a three-dimensional puzzle where relative position and morphology are crucial to understanding the past of a given site. Archaeological field data are now frequently born digital, with everything from iPads to GPS directly implicated in the selection (and destruction), capture and organisation of archaeological information. Graphical environments enable us to combine information from landscape survey, remote sensing, geophysics, building and topographic survey, and find locations into a single environment and hence to develop interpretations based on location. We cannot replicate the artefacts and the pre-excavation contexts but three-dimensional, graphical computing can bring us significantly closer than other modes of representation. (Learn more about 3d field data in the ACRG)

Digital visual representation of the past.

Archaeology has always used visual means to represent both its supporting data and the interpretations based on those data. Southampton is a centre for research on this public presentation and consumption of the past. Computer graphics play an increasingly significant role in this public portrayal, and also the presentation of developing interpretations to a specialist audience. Understanding the history, stylistic components and impact of such graphical simulations is vital for an understanding of the discipline, and its impact on broader society. In the public sphere computer graphic representations of the past are ubiquitous, from simulations of ancient Rome in Google Earth, through mobile museum guides to multiple Second Life Stonehenges. (Learn more about digital representation in the ACRG)

3D recording

Graphics are the raw data produced from a growing range of archaeological tools. The new University of Southampton mu-Vis CT centre at Southampton produced voxel and surface models of archaeological (and many other) objects. Our time-of-flight, phase and triangulation laser scanners similarly sample the archaeological world and produce graphical products. In surveying buildings it is now more common to use a digital photogrammetric camera than a pencil, and in the domain of small object and surface recording Reflectance Transformation Imaging relies on algorithms more commonly associated with the production of film graphics and on increasingly powerful tools such as non-photorealistic rendering. (Learn more about 3d recording in the ACRG)

Thinking in digital spaces

Archaeology is interested in space and perception in the past and we use digital technologies to create virtual simulations of past environments, creating new places to think inside. Whilst digital environments of all kind provide novel means to interact with archaeological information we are particularly interested in the creation of physically accurate environments. We use as much information as possible in the creation of digital objects, architecture and landscapes and then visualise them using computer graphic approaches tied to physical laws of the propogation of light, interaction of light with surfaces, participating media and artificial illumination. In turn we are interested in questions of perception and performance in digital spaces. (Learn more about physical realism in the ACRG)

Formal analyses

The forms of analysis possible by moving through virtual spaces are complemented by a range of formal quantitative analysis. Conventionally these are 2 or 2.5 dimensional. We have developed a number of methods to produce formal analyses in fully three-dimensional spaces, providing metrics equating to relative visibility, prominence and enclosure. (Learn more about formal methods in the ACRG)

Work in these research areas feeds directly into our research-lead undergraduiate and masters teaching, and in particular to the MSc in Archaeological Computing: Virtual Pasts