Description
The Harris Matrix Composer (HMC) is an editor to establish the stratigraphic relations of an archaeological excavation. This information is indispensable for subsequent analysis of finds and their historical interpretation. Since this information is destroyed by the excavation process it needs to be digitally preserved. This is done by laser scanners, which capture the 3D geometry of each stratigraphic layer and the Harris Matrix, which represents the stratigraphic relations. So each 3D model resulting from a laser scan is associated with a unit of the Harris Matrix.
The HMC misses two crucial features to highly improve its scientific usability. The first one is a flexible time model to set stratigraphic units into a temporal context. The second one is an interface to a GIS to access and display geographic layers and 3D models by selecting units of the Harris Matrix.
Task
Two major tasks should be accomplished in this master thesis:
1) Time Model
A hierarchical time model should be integrated into the existing Harris Matrix Composer, which can be controlled by an intuitive GUI supporting focus and context techniques (smart zoom & pan). Archaeologists should be able to assign units of the Harris Matrix to certain time intervals by arranging their vertical position. Selecting one or more time intervals will also select all the units belonging to it. The GUI should support two visual representations. The first will be a hierarchy of three time lines (illustrated on the left hand side in the image above) and the second a triangular interval model.
2) GIS Control
The Harris Matrix Composer should be extended so that it allows controlling ArcGIS. In all GISs tree views are used to display and access the hierarchy of entries, i.e. geographic layers. This is insufficient for archaeologists because it does not reflect stratigraphic relations. Therefore the Harris Matrix should directly be used to select entries in the GIS and display them. This is simply done by selecting one or more units of the Harris Matrix. An animation mode should be implemented that runs through the time line and continuously displays all GIS entries that are older than or concurrent with the current time point.
Requirements
- Programming skills in Java.
- Basic knowledge of GUI design and development.
- Basic knowledge of Java Swing.
Environment
- Eclipse IDE
- yFiles graph library from yWorks
- Esri AdcGIS
- Harris Matrix Composer (free trial version)
