Causes: Arts & Culture, Arts, Culture & Humanities, Management & Technical Assistance, Technology
Mission: Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) drives development and adoption of practical digital imaging and preservation solutions for people passionate about saving humanity's treasures today, before they are lost.
Results: The application of computational photography techniques for cultural heritage has seen a dramatic increase because of our programs over the last 15+ years. Better, more precise digital information has been and is continuing to be collected in support of monitoring, preservation, research, and education. For example, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a low-cost method for examining fine surface details of subjects. Because of our effort to absorb research and create user-friendly tools for this method, we have created a growing community of professionals who can support each other in applying the technique. In a similar vein, we provide guidance, training, and instructional materials on photogrammetry, a portable and powerful technique that yields extremely dense and precise 3D surface data. By now both RTI and photogrammetry are in broad use in art conservation, archaeology, the natural sciences, and other disciplines. More recently, we initiated our "Digital Lab Notebook" project to provide software tools and instructional materials that simplify the collection of scientific, standards-based metadata. This program is influencing the way cultural institutions conduct historic documentation and research.
Target demographics: All people who care about cultural, historic, and artistic treasures.
Direct beneficiaries per year: People all over the world who downloaded free software and user guides and participated in our free user forums. In addition, 40-100 people annually attend in-person training classes in imaging techniques. The website receives approximately 3000 visitors per month, and downloads average 500 per month (for all software and guides combined). Our instructional videos get over 1000 plays per month. Our free user forums site has over 1000 people registered. In the forums the community can ask and answer questions about the imaging technologies and how to deploy them.
Geographic areas served: We work internationally to produce scientific digital imaging tools and methodology.
Programs: CHI makes open source software, user guides, and instructional videos freely available on its website, materials that are broadly used by an international audience. We also offer training classes in advanced, scientific, yet easy-to-learn imaging techniques that are low cost and use off-the-shelf digital cameras.
Mission: Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) drives development and adoption of practical digital imaging and preservation solutions for people passionate about saving humanity's treasures today, before they are lost.
Results: The application of computational photography techniques for cultural heritage has seen a dramatic increase because of our programs over the last 15+ years. Better, more precise digital information has been and is continuing to be collected in support of monitoring, preservation, research, and education. For example, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) is a low-cost method for examining fine surface details of subjects. Because of our effort to absorb research and create user-friendly tools for this method, we have created a growing community of professionals who can support each other in applying the technique. In a similar vein, we provide guidance, training, and instructional materials on photogrammetry, a portable and powerful technique that yields extremely dense and precise 3D surface data. By now both RTI and photogrammetry are in broad use in art conservation, archaeology, the natural sciences, and other disciplines. More recently, we initiated our "Digital Lab Notebook" project to provide software tools and instructional materials that simplify the collection of scientific, standards-based metadata. This program is influencing the way cultural institutions conduct historic documentation and research.
Target demographics: All people who care about cultural, historic, and artistic treasures.
Direct beneficiaries per year: People all over the world who downloaded free software and user guides and participated in our free user forums. In addition, 40-100 people annually attend in-person training classes in imaging techniques. The website receives approximately 3000 visitors per month, and downloads average 500 per month (for all software and guides combined). Our instructional videos get over 1000 plays per month. Our free user forums site has over 1000 people registered. In the forums the community can ask and answer questions about the imaging technologies and how to deploy them.
Geographic areas served: We work internationally to produce scientific digital imaging tools and methodology.
Programs: CHI makes open source software, user guides, and instructional videos freely available on its website, materials that are broadly used by an international audience. We also offer training classes in advanced, scientific, yet easy-to-learn imaging techniques that are low cost and use off-the-shelf digital cameras.
info@c-h-i.org
2325 3rd Street Suite 337, San Francisco, CA 94107
415-558-8672
Arts & Culture
San Francisco
