Principles and standards

We finally got around writing up the 4D Research Lab approach on 3D visualisation. For the use of virtual reconstruction in the context of academic research, it is paramount to have a clear conception on both the modeling process as well as the final result, and communicate this as well as possible. Thorough research, responsibility, transparency and verification are key-concepts here. For the 4D Research Lab principles and standards, this amounts to:

• A principle statement, in which we define the role of 3D visualisation in academia, our views on academic rigour, accessibility and sustainability. As for academic rigour, we build forth on “The London Charter for the computer-based visualization of cultural heritage” and the “Principles of Seville, international principles of virtual archaeology”.
• A template, which is the application of the principle statement into a standard format for execution and documentation of 3D visualisation projects, and compiling reports.
• A definition of our take on dealing with (un)certainty in 3D visualisation, accompanied with a 6 degree classification of certainty levels.

These standards and principles will be applied to all projects of the 4D Research Lab to ensure uniformity but also to create a database to be able to compare their performance. Surely, in due course we will find that we might improve on our project template or classification of (un)certainty. We do not consider them written in stone, but as a culmination of our experience so far, and they will surely be susceptible to future evolution into better versions of themselves.

Certainty Class	Variability	Indication	Example	Colour
Certain	None	Empirical	Scanned remains	89a5c1
Quite certain	Low	Logical extension	Missing part of relatively complete object	95bf8f
Moderately certain	Limited	Close parallel	Same type, direct relation	eee3ab
Not so certain	Considerable	General parallel	Same type, indirect relation	d9cfc1
Quite uncertain	High	Historic context	General stylistic traditions	a77e58
Very uncertain	Very high	Theoretical	Constructional argument	ba3f1d