A PLATFORM FOR MULTILAYERED DOCUMENTATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
Keywords: Heritage BIM, Spatial dataset integration, Visual fidelity, Semantic richness, Heritage building documentation, Game engine, Point Cloud, Polygonal Mesh
Abstract. This paper presents a platform for multilayered documentation of cultural heritage, inspired by the current lack of a heritage BIM approach capable of creating models with both high geometric accuracy and high semantic richness. The platform is developed in the Unity game engine. It comprises several integrated and interconnected layers or datasets that can include data of different types, such as a point cloud, textured polygonal mesh, parametric information model and images, both 2D images and 360° panoramas. We present an overview of the platform concept, the benefits of the proposed multilayered representation and the details on the implementation and integration of datasets. Also, we present some of the innovative functions made possible by this integration, such as point cloud or mesh cutting and preforming measurements on 2D images and 360° panoramas. We perform and present the results of a preliminary analysis of platform functions, which indicates that the platform can be used for accurate measurement and retrieval of 3D coordinates.