UNCERTAINTY VISUALIZATION APPROACHES FOR 3D MODELS OF CASTLES RESTITUTED FROM ARCHEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

In the cultural heritage field, several specialists like archaeologists, architects, geomaticians, historians, etc. are used to work together. With the upcoming technologies allowing to capture efficiently data in the field, to digitize historical documents, to collect worldwide information related to the monuments under study, the wish to summarize all the sources of data (including the knowledge of the specialists) into one 3D model is a big challenge. In order to guarantee the reliability of the proposed reconstructed 3D model, it is of crucial importance to integrate the level of uncertainty assigned to it. From a geometric point of view, uncertainty is often defined, quantified and expressed with the help of statistical measures. However, for objects reconstructed based on archaeological assumptions, statistical measures are not appropriate. This paper focuses on the decomposition of 3D models into levels of uncertainties (LoUs) and on the best way to visualize them through two case studies: the castle of Kagenfels and the Horbourg-Wihr Castellum, both located in Alsace, France. The first one is well documented through still ongoing excavations around its remains, whereas the second one disappeared under the urbanization of the city. An approach enabling, on the 3D models, not only to quantify but also to visualize uncertainties coming from archaeological assumptions is addressed. Finally, the efficiency of the approach for qualifying the proposed 3D model of the reconstructed castle regarding its reliability is demonstrated.