INFORMATION IN A CULTURE-ALERT SOCIETY Can Photogrammetry measure the Visual Perception of Works of Art

The intention of this presentation is to propose a new point-of-view, from which a quest for innovative applications of Photogrammetry in assessment of cultural heritage can be initiated. As such, the main point rests on the presentation of new ideas, rather than on completely resolving the involved technical issues. Wölfflin’s principles in for comparative examination of pieces of art and architecture, belonging to different art periods are evaluated with photogrammetric means. The “clarity” of figures is assessed with edge-enhancement and image segmentation. The perceived “depth” is assessed through virtual emboss of the images and creation of “virtual” stereo pairs. The image information is assessed through entropy calculations. The existence of “focal points” is assessed through interest-point operators and the development of an eye-gaze tracking system. Examples from Renaissance and Baroque artists are given, to prove the feasibility of the approaches.