A team consisting of about 20 experts from both Japan and abroad has embarked on a project to create a 3D model of Shuri Castle, which was destroyed in a fire in Naha.
The group has been seeking people's cooperation to provide image data of the castle, such as photos taken during trips or other occasions, for the digital reconstruction of the castle.
The project was initiated by Rei Kawakami, 39, a project lecturer at the University of Tokyo specializing in image processing. The experts, including Kawakami's mentor, her research colleagues and engineers, formed the team to start the "Our Shuri Castle Digital Reconstruction Project."
They plan to reproduce an exact and complete 3D model of the castle's pre-fire state by using images taken from various angles.
The more data they have, the more exactly they will be able to reproduce the colors and shapes, and the more they can recreate details of the castle in the digital image.
The circle of cooperation is expanding all over the world as they received about 16,000 photos from contributors as of Nov. 14, with about 10 percent from Taiwan, the United States, Australia and other foreign countries. The project aims to collect 1 million images.
When the fire engulfed the castle on Oct. 31, Kawakami was in Seoul to attend an international conference. She was concerned about the disaster in Okinawa -- a place she visited many times on trips -- so she read a lot of news about it after the meeting.
Kawakami was deeply saddened by an article that said, "Some children are too shocked by the fire to attend school."
From experience creating 3D models of the temples that make up the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia and other historic sites in Japan and abroad, Kawakami knew that people have a strong attachment to familiar cultural properties.
Kawakami said she decided to go into action, thinking, "Grief won't change anything. I should do whatever I possibly can." She therefore called on people to provide support and cooperation by using Twitter and sending out emails.
She won cooperation from an unacquainted engineer, and the team had a new member, an expert of a company involved in creating the digital restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral that was ravaged by fire in Paris.
The team posted the outline and purpose of the project on its website, which it launched on Nov. 5.
They collected 350 photos on the internet and, from 50 good images, created an improvised 3D model of Shuri Castle that is now viewable on the site.
The completed data will be donated to Okinawa Prefecture, the team said. Visit www.our-shurijo.org to provide image data.
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