PaleoScan: Low-Cost Easy-to-Use High-Volume Fossil Scanning

Cláudio T. Silva, Yurii Piadyk, João Rulff, Daniele Panozzo, Maria Beatriz Silva, Antonio A.F. Saraiva, Naiara Cipriano Oliveira, Renan A.M. Bantim, Flaviana Jorge de Lima, Otávio J.F. Gomes, Akinobu Watanabe

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Fossils are crucial for understanding our natural history and the digitalization of fossils has paved the way for paleontologists to share and study them in greater detail. Yet, many fossil-dense regions, in particular low- and middle-income countries, lack the resources to digitalize their vast collections. This project reports on a collaboration between paleontologists and computer scientists to design, build, and operate a device that can be deployed in the field for digitizing a collection of thousands of fossils. We introduce PaleoScan, a user-friendly, cost-effective, high-volume scanner designed to expedite the digitization of extensive fossil collections. PaleoScan is a self-contained 3D scanning system consisting of a light and compact mirrorless camera, a microcontroller, a ChArUco calibration board, and user-controlled LEDs. Software and data processing is cloud-based, where the user interacts with the system through a web application. We deployed PaleoScan in a museum in Brazil with a world-class fossil collection. Our early results reveal its potential to revolutionize the scanning process for fossils.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9798400703300
DOIs
StatePublished - May 11 2024
Event2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems, CHI 2024 - Hybrid, Honolulu, United States
Duration: May 11 2024May 16 2024

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Sytems, CHI 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHybrid, Honolulu
Period5/11/245/16/24

Keywords

  • 3D reconstruction
  • 3D scanning
  • digitalization
  • paleontology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

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