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New information technologies make it possible to preserve the world's cultural heritage for future
generations through their digitization. One of these technologies is three-dimensional (3D) scanning of
museum objects or architectural monuments using 3D scanners or 360o camerasn example of the use of 3D scanning technology in practice is the "3D Digital Silk Road" project,
financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, and implemented in the period from
October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2022 by the Lublin University of Technology (LUT, Poland) in
cooperation with 4 Partner universities from Uzbekistan: National University of Uzbekistan, Samarkand
State University (SamSU), Urgench State University, and Chirchik State Pedagogical Institute. The aim of
the project is to conduct scientific and research work in the field of digitization of cultural heritage
monuments of the Silk Road in modern Uzbekistan by specialists from the LUT in cooperation with
Partners, and to disseminate research results through: international conferences, monographs, publications,
training, and the silkroad3d.com website.
As part of the project, the following has been carried out so far:
• Three research expeditions to Uzbekistan for 3D scanning of museums and architectural
monuments. Due to the Covid-1 pandemic, one trip was virtual.
• Training in Poland "3D scanning of small objects" for Partners from Uzbekistan.
• Two international conferences. The one was virtual: web-conference "The Silk Road - Cultural
Heritage of Asia and Europe" (January 2021). The second was at the LUT "IT in Cultural Heritage of the
Silk Road" (December 2021).
This year, two more expeditions are planned, another training in 3D scanning of architectural objects,
more scientific publications, and a final conference in Uzbekistan.
The scientists from the Department of Computer Science of the LUT have extensive experience in
the area of 3D scanning, which they share with Uzbekistan Partners, and have modern 3D scanning
equipment (Artec Eva 3D scanner for structural light, Faro Fokus X330 laser scanner, low-cost Rangevision
Neo scanner), which together with Partners, they use the Silk Road objects for 3D scanning.
The 3D scanning problems that had to be faced during the project implementation period concerned:
• Performing remote scanning during the Covid-19 pandemic (renting a scanner with shipment to
Samarkand, learning how to use a video platform, preparation of the stand, and scanning of objects in
SamSU under the remote supervision from LUT).
• Performing scanning in the museums of Tashkent, Chirchik, Urgench, and Khiva (preparation of
the digitization position and transfer of selected valuable museum objects, scanning of objects in showcases
under conditions of restricted access).
• Performing scanning of architectural monuments (organization of access to facilities by Partners,
scanning in the presence of tourists, various parameters of temperature and humidity of the environment).
• Optimization of the digitization process with the use of various 3D scanners and cultural artifacts.
The obtained scan data made it possible to make digital copies of scanned objects: 3D models, 3D
panoramas or virtual reality images, and placed on the Internet on the silkroad3d.com portal.
This research was funded by Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), grant
number PPI/APM/2019/1/00004.
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