Hi everyone,
Today, our feature takes us to Malta, where Equinox Digital used AR to bring the Azure Window back to life:
Youtube video link: https://youtu.be/26N0Lu_ZsW4
The project in the words of his creator:
“At Equinox our primary goal is the preservation of cultural heritage through the utilization of drone photogrammetry. We also specialize in incorporating the 3D data in Augmented and Virtual Reality applications to create a new user experience of our shared global heritage.
For the Azure Window project, we had identified the risk of collapse weeks before it actually happened.
I had previously studied the applications of UAV photogrammetry in the monitoring of heritage sites under threat from Coastal Erosion, and the Azure Window seemed like an ideal proof-of-concept for our work.
We feel that our work is genuinely important, as we are preserving cultural heritage sites for future generations to engage with and learn from.
We are currently in talks with the Government of Malta in relation to the creation of an on-site Augmented Reality application using the model we generated from our original survey. So it’s very exciting for us.
Drone Mapping plays an absolutely crucial role in our workflow, it generates our raw material from which we create immersive 3d experiences of cultural heritage.
When I was in completing my MSc in Glasgow, I partnered with a local 3d drone mapping company for my thesis, they had been using Pix4d for their business and it came highly recommended. Overall, the experience with Pix4D has been very positive, and we hope to continue using their software as our start-up goes from strength to strength.
Being a bootstrapped start-up, we are only able to afford the occasional Pix4D monthly license. But it is definitely worth it.” Daniel Maher, Founder of Equinox Digital
Technical Details:
- Drone: DJI Phantom 4 pro.
- Data acquisition: Manual flight path and free terrestrial data capture.
- Number of images: 250
- Image pre-processing: Lightroom
- Photogrammetry processing: Pix4Dmapper on a desktop device
- Post-processing was done in Blender.
Enjoy your virtual visit to Gozo and feel free to share your comments and your own projects.
Pix4D team