Utilization of photogrammetry during establishment of virtual rock collection at Aalto University

Abstract

In recent years, we can observe increasing popularity of the term industry 4.0 which is defined as a new level of organization and control over the entire value chain of the life cycle of products. Experts distinguished nine different technologies, which are essential for the development of industry 4.0. One of them is virtual reality, which is used during processes of data visualisation and digitization. These processes can also include geological collections. Due to limited access to different geological spots, the popularity of destructive techniques during rock testing and high complexity of the process of learning geosciences, geologists are looking for new methods of digitization of different samples of rocks and minerals. The aim of this master thesis was to create a virtual collection of selected rocks and minerals using photogrammetry and virtual reality (VR) technology and develop new tool and interactive learning platform for study mineralogy and petrography. To accomplish these aims and create 3D models of specimens, the author built professional photo studio and used photogrammetric techniques to digitize the samples. The main output of this research is a virtual 3D collection of rocks and minerals that consisting of 107 samples, and which is available via two different channels: Sketchfab portal online model repository and VR environment built in Unity game engine. The virtual collection will be utilised to teach students how to identify rocks and minerals at Aalto University.