Mystery Vase 01: Introduction to Observation

Our goal is to demonstrate how 3D visualization can be helpful in every subject area and every classroom.  In particular, we want to demonstrate how we can develope better observational skills using 3D visualization.

Perhaps, a fun way to begin our quest is to introduce a family mystery and seek to solve that mystery using 3D visualization tools.

The Mystery Vase - Background

The vase we are using for this demonstration was inherited by my father-in-law.  Both the husband and wife of the family from which it was inherited were educators.  Henry Draper was a superintendent of the Washington, DC school system and his wife, Elizabeth Draper was a school principle.  During the summers, they would organize trips for teachers.  Hentry Draper's obituary states that he made over 27 trips to Europe.  He died in 1945 and she passed away in 1979;

They adoped a son, Richard, who became an artist.

An Internet Search

Before revealing the vase in question, we'll first do an internet search of known ancient Italian vessels.

     LINK - GOOGLE SEARCH OF IMAGES

This is a typical example:

 

The Mystery Vase - Still Image

Now, let's take a look at the Mystery Vase.  If you double-click on the vase you can view it in full resolution.

Mystery Vase

While the vase appears to be old and the Draper's did travel to Europe many times, including Naples just as the first World War began, our search of images of ancient vases from Italy shows much more ornate designs with finer detail than this one.  In fact, this looks a bit crude by comparison.  And, it only shows a head, not a full body as do the others.  So....

• Is the inherited vase a genuine ancient artifact?   
• Is it really old or simply made to look old?  
• Is it the work of a modern budding artist who was exposed to actual ancient art?  

This is the mystery we will try to solve.  And, we will do so using 4 different ways of viewing the vase:

• Still Imaging
• Standard Video
• 3D 360 degree visualization that the viewer can control using the Cappasity Platform
• 3D Object capture with full control in all axis directions using a 3D viewer.   

Observation Level 01:  Still Imaging
Exploring the image above,  see what observations you can make that argue for the vase being genuinely old or a modern creation made to look old.  In particular, pay attention to the craftsmanship and detail that supports either finding.  If presenting this question to a class, having students come up with at least 5 observations arguing for each conclusion might be a great start toward solving the mystery.  So, let's try that exercise for ourselves.\

Observation Level 02:  Standard Video

For this opening article, we'll add another observational tool.   Here is a video of the vase spinning on a turntable.  For the best use of this observational too, try the Full-Screen view.

What we have added by looking at the vase using video is a full 360 degree view.  We're not limited to a single perspective.  Again, to help us hone our observational skills, let's try to come up with 5 additional observations arguing for each conclusion or refining the initial observations.

Being able to see the object from all sides is very helpful; but, we can't control the spin with normal video.  We can't stop and ponder a particular view.  And, that is where Cappasity comes into play.

In the next blog article, we will demonstrate how using Cappasity's ability to control our 360 degree 3D view of the vase improves our observational opportunities.  And, we'll discuss what it takes to create a video that makes a good Cappasity capture.

The mystery continues... Stay tuned!