project

3D laser scan of dhows in the collection of the Qatar Museums Authority, Doha, Qatar

21 January 2013 - 31 August 2013

PI/s in Exeter: Professor John P. Cooper

Funding awarded: £ 124,514

Sponsor(s): Qatar Museum Authority

About the research

The Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) has invited the MARES Project to prepare a costed proposal to carry out a 3D laser scan of a number of wooden dhows in the QMA collection. MARES has consulted Dr. Andrew Wetherelt (AW), Senior Lecturer & Programme Director of the Camborne School of Mines (CSM), University of Exeter who has agreed in principle to provide the equipment and his technical expertise necessary to carry out the scans. The project would therefore be a joint research project carried out between the IAIS and CSM at the University of Exeter.

In addition to the scans, QMA would like the scanned vessels to be animated for presentation in a new maritime museum it is planning to build for Qatar as part of an overall high-specification museums redevelopment strategy for the country. QMA has also requested a “fly-through” animation of the vessels, plus an animation of them “in action”, i.e. sailing, in a maritime landscape.