Winner of the 2018 Technology Innovation of the Year Award, The Bermuda 100 Project is a partnership between USCD’s Cultural Heritage Engineering Initiative (CHEI), LookBermuda and the Bermuda Governments Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which uses advanced photogrammetry processes to capture and bring Bermuda’s shipwrecks to the world.
The project which was originally launched via a TEDx Bermuda talk in 2016 by UCSD professor Falko Kuester continues to create larger and larger datasets as it documents Bermuda’s shipwrecks and reefs.
UCSD’s big data visualization expertise paired with their WAVE and 3D video walls allows for this data to be rendered and experienced at very large scale in realtime. Their custom developed hardware is capable of rendering the billions of data points out to a mind-boggling 12 k, Spherical, 3D video that a user can control with a game controller to literally fly through the wrecks at full scale.
Their installations provided the backdrop and Disruptive Tech showcase for the recent NOAA Deep Ocean Exploration Conference hosted by UCSD in San Diego.
Viewers around the world are also able to view the datasets via the Bermuda100 website which includes innovative browser based tools for interacting with the 3D models in real-time.
Bermuda 100 Partner LookBermuda, Developer Jean-Pierre Rouja: “We now have several ways to interact with the 3D models ranging from the massive UCSD 3D video walls, interactive web tools via the Bermuda100 portal, 4k 3D LED displays with 3D glasses and VR headsets, however up to now it has been a challenge to cost effectively display the 3D models in public scenarios where distributing 3D glasses or managing headsets is not practical or affordable.
This continues to be one of our biggest challenges as we look to extend our pubic outreach into Museum type locations and we have finally found a solution: We are now working with Brooklyn based startup The Looking Glass Factory to enable their ground breaking 3D Holographic Canvas to display our models in the real world, without the need for headsets or special glasses.
Not only were we able to showcase a prototype of the display with our models in a Tech Showcase at the 2018 TEDx Bermuda event (where our project was originally launched in 2016) but this was then followed by a TEDx Providence talk featuring our new collaboration by Looking Glass co-founder Alex Hornstein the following weekend!”