Digitization and Material Characterization of Kendi as Cultural Heritage of Southeast Asia (research 2)

The digitization and material characterizations of Kendi collection from Southeast Asia such as from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia are studied. The main objectives of this study are to improvise 2D scanner for efficient capturing complex geometry of Kendi, to convert 2D images of scanned Kendi into 3D images with open-source software and modification of pre-existed algorithms, to verify the developed 3D images with 3D laser captured image and lastly to determine the material characterizations of Kendi. The first phase of this study is about the digitization of Kendi which involves different image acquisition methods where 2D and 3D scanners are used namely, High-resolution 2D flatbed type scanner and POLHEMUS FastScan 3D scanner, respectively. Due to fixed 2D scanner, the position of Kendi needs to be re-position for every consecutive scan in order to acquire all necessary viewpoints. Flexible 3D scanner can acquire all surface information by sweeping over the Kendi surface. The raw data of scanned images are stored in different format; hence, different processing steps are required to create the textured 3D model of Kendi.

The textured 3D model of Kendi from 2D scanned images can be created by three-steps processes which are image pre-processing, multiple-image post-processing and 3D model post-processing. Meanwhile, two-step processes which are 3D model pre- and post-processing are required for 3D scanned images. After that, the textured 3D model from both methods need to employ modified pre-existing algorithms to create 3D images with colour fidelity. The 3D images from different methods are compared based on the image accuracy and colour fidelity. In the second phase of this study, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) using PANalytical (EMPYREAN) diffractometer and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis using Fluorescence Spectrophotometer-EDX 1400 (Shimadzu) are used for mineralogical composition of Kendi. The determination of material characterization of Kendi would be able to discover the origin, potential manufacturing process and technology used to produce Kendi.

By Siti Zuliana Salleh
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bushroa Abdul Razak