High definition X-ray microtomography and advanced visualisation techniques for information recovery from unopenable historical documents

Lead Research Organisation: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Optometry and Vision Sciences

Abstract

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Description A delicate scroll can be X-ray scanned, and then virtually opened using computer analysis to reveal the writing that was previously inaccessible.
Exploitation Route The techniques could be applied to other media that are fragile to reveal hidden content.
Sectors Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
URL http://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/Paul.Rosin/scrolls.html
 
Description We were able to read text from an early 15th century rolled parchment that was stuck together and could not be read by conventional means. This demonstrated to the cultural heritage community that we may be able to retrieve information from such damaged documents
First Year Of Impact 2013
Impact Types Cultural
 
Description Norfolk Records Office 
Organisation Norfolk Record Office
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The Norfolk Records office supplied us with a small scroll, that is, a tightly wound piece of stiff parchment. This was too stiff to unwind without causing damage. We were able to scan this with the microtomography system and the scroll was then flattened using the software developed with the Cardiff University project partners to produce a readable image of the text. They later provided us with the Bressingham Roll which was the subject of a presentation on the BBC's The One Show.
Collaborator Contribution They were enthusiastic about our project; we were able to describe the capabilities of our system so that they could search their archive for appropriate material. This facilitated the demonstration of the successful virtual unrolling of an ancient document.
Impact BBC The One Show.
Start Year 2011
 
Description Cardiff University: X-rays 'read' ink in historic scrolls 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Describes the capability of the research to virtually unroll a scroll.

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Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description Recovering Historical Film Footage by Processing Microtomographic Images 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation to cultural heritage researchers & practitioners
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL http://www.euromed2016.eu/
 
Description The One Show 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Item recorded for BBC.

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Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013,2014
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXkQz9fOafU
 
Description seminar at Nankai University & Tianjin University 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact research seminar to computer vision lab members
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016