An approach for the creation of a digital repository of two-dimensional (2D) artefacts in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The creation of a digital repository of artefacts has become one of the crucial activities in the cultural heritage domain. The objective of this research is to propose a naval approach to make digital archives of 2D artefacts in Sri Lanka. By analysing a case study of digital archives of Bellanwila Temple documented by Lal Hegoda, authors identified several issues related to digital archives. Therefore, authors continued the literature review in area of digitizing 2D artefacts and identified that panoramic image is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view of a large artefact. Two software tools: Photoshop and Hugin were tested for creating panoramic images and it was identified some drawbacks. Accordingly, a new algorithm was proposed with steps: image acquisition, pre-processing, sorting, feature detection and matching, homography, blending, fine-tuning, and displaying panorama. Large-scale 2D murals of three temples in Sri Lanka were used as a dataset to evaluate the proposed algorithm. A subjective evaluation of experts in area of visual arts was conducted to determine the level of quality of 2D digital archives developed using the proposed algorithm comparing two software tools. Collected data related to quality attributes: colour balance, noise & distortion with overall quality were analysed. It was identified that percentage of higher level overall quality of generated digital archives using proposed algorithm is 82.66% that is higher than other software tools, Photoshop (12.00%) and Hugin (02.67%) respectively. Moreover, it can conclude that proposed approach is effective for creating digital archives to make a digital repository for 2D artefacts in Sri Lanka.