Analysis of Sensor Fusion with a Depth Sensing Multi-Camera System for Cultural Heritage Application

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, with computer vision playing a crucial role across fields like medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, and cultural heritage. Digitization allows real-world objects to be transformed into digital models for analysis, preservation, and reconstruction. This is especially important in cultural heritage, where fragile artifacts must be digitized without physical contact. Fraunhofer IGD uses advanced systems like CultArm3D and CultArc to achieve high precision 3D scans using different structural designs. While Stereo Vision and Time-of-Flight (ToF) imaging each offer valuable capabilities in 3D digitization, combining them in a single system presents challenges. Sensor fusion requires precise synchronization, calibration, and alignment of heterogeneous data sources. Variations in resolution, depth accuracy, and data format between sensors introduce inconsistencies that complicate integration. To investigate whether these challenges can be effectively addressed, a Multi-Camera System (MCS) was developed that merges stereo and ToF. This sensor fusion aims to improve robustness and overcome the limitations of each camera. The goal of this work is to evaluate whether the MCS offers a viable alternative approach for cultural heritage digitization.