Issues and theories behind the conservation of two-dimensional (2D) artifacts in Sri Lanka using digital technology

Abstract

Conservation of cultural heritage is an area of science that describes how to preserve various products of art, architecture and other cultural works. There are different types of valuable artworks required for conservation in Colombo Museum and some historical temples in Sri Lanka. The aim of this paper is to identify issues and theories behind the conservation of 2D artefact in Sri Lanka using digital technology. As the research methodology, a survey, a case study of digital photos of Bellanwila Temple taken by Lal Hegoda and interviews were used to identify the process, issues and techniques applied for conserving 2D artifacts through digitization. In literature search and analysis, image stitching technique was identified as one of the main technologies used in this area and it was well studied in different perspectives in this research. Further, it was able to identify two main approaches for image stitching as feature based method and direct method by reviewing several research papers in the area of image stitching. Further, it was identified steps applied for the process of developing a panoramic image. Furthermore, several feature based techniques were identified for different types of applications in the subject area with the details of their inherent features and limitations. In this paper, findings of the literature review and the results of the above research methods are discussed in different directions with the identification of issues and theories behind the conservation of two dimensional (2D) artifacts in Sri Lanka using digital technology.