KFU scientists making 3D reconstruction of Bolgar
Visualization and Games Development Lab of the Higher School of Information Technologies and Information Systems (HS ITIS) teamed up with other KU divisions to reconstruct in 3D the cultural and historical site of Ancient Bolgar of the 14th century.
June 23 the Bolgar Historical and Achitectural Complex entered the UNESCO World Heritage list. Many scientists had explored the ancient city for many years. Their works had aimed to find out when the settlement appeared, how it developed, what its culture and everyday life looked like.
Unfortunately, a simple textural description cannot provide a full image of the site, whereas an illustration, a drawing, or a map just complements it. Another thing is a 3D reconstruction of archeological sites and modeling of some relics that make a full and vivid picture of the past and offers exciting possibilities for historical study.
Scientist of Kazan University started 3D reconstruction of the city of Bolgar. Vlada Kugurakova, the Head of the Visualization and Games Development Lab of the KFU HS ITIS, explained how the use of 3D technology helped to preserve cultural heritage.
- Teams of many scientific organizations participate in the renewal of Bolgar, including Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, KFU, Institute of Archeology of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, and others. The same with the 3D reconstruction; archeologists, geoscientists, KFU aerospace decrypting experts, architects from Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering, ethno musicians of Kazan Conservatoire team up to take part in the process. We have also invited wooden architecture experts from Tyumen.
It is not the first step in this area, said Vlada Kugurakova. She invited to make a virtual excursion around KFU on the official web site of the University to have a look at the buildings of its institutes. However, the reconstruction of a historical site differs from the creation of a modern building; it is impossible without a thorough study of its history.
-In practice, we are rediscovering Ancient Bolgar of the 14th century for contemporaries. To do it we have to be aware of its buildings, the clothes people wore. Therefore our experts analyze a huge number of scientific researches. The descriptions we meet in archives let us reconstruct tiny peculiarities of architecture of the period under study: methods, materials a fortress, a mosque or a church was constructed of (wood, stone, or something else).
In addition to the reconstruction of historical sites, KFU programmers recreate the landscape collecting information from geological researches. The process of recreation of the 14th century Bolgar vegetation shows how meticulous their work is.
A great job has been done by the Kazan University experts in material analysis enabling the construction of people.
- The reconstructed city will not be deserted: children will be running in the street, masters will be working, and merchants will be selling goods. All personages will wear national clothes of the given period according to their status: soldiers, servants, foreign guests, the emir and his people, slaves, and peasants. Everything is based on precise historical researches of archeologists, historians, geoscientists, ethnologists, and anthropologists.
It is planned to finish the project by the end of the year. HS ITIS programmers are going to start then 3D reconstruction of other historical sites of Tatarstan.
