Application of computer vision techniques for 3D matching and retrieval of archaeological objects

Background: As cultural institutions embark in projects oriented to digitise art and archaeological collections in three dimensions, the need for developing means to access the resulting 3D models has become imperative. Shape recognition techniques developed in the field of computer vision can help in this task. Methods: This paper describes the implementation of three shape descriptors, specifically shape distributions, reflective symmetry and spherical harmonics as part of the development of a search engine that retrieves 3D models from an archaeological database without the need of using keywords as query criteria. Use case: The usefulness of this system is obvious in the context of cultural heritage museums, where it is essential to provide automatic access to archaeological and art collections. The prototype described in this paper uses, as study case, 3D models of archaeological objects belonging to Museo del Templo Mayor, a Mexican institution that preserves one of the largest collections of Aztec cultural heritage. Conclusions: This work is part of an ongoing project focused on creating generic methodologies and user-friendly computational tools for shape analysis for the benefit of scholars and students interested in describing, interpreting and disseminating new knowledge about the morphology of cultural objects.