Goethe’s Clothing in 3D: A Better Understanding of Historical Clothing Through Digital Images

The »3D-RealityCapture-ScanLab« can be described easy and is incredibly impressive: 130 high-resolution cameras form a dome with the help of tripods arranged in a ring; the object is placed in the centre, scanned photographed from all sides and reconstructed by a powerful computer as a 3D model. The ScanLab is also used for computer vision, which captures moving objects or objects with challenging material properties. It then evaluates these objects and translates them into an engineering context with the help of computers. The joint project aims to generate high-quality 3D models for future digital museum exhibits, among other projects. The long-term preservation of the original clothing was the driving idea behind the decision to preserve the sensitive museum objects in digital form for the future.

Together with the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the ScanLab is now being used for new purposes: Historical clothing from the time of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are being digitalised. Pieces include some that belonged to Goethe himself.  This project will ensure that the pieces are preserved and recorded in digital form for the future. Goethe’s court attire and his travelling cloak are among the pieces that have been captured in 3D for the project. The pieces have been photographed on custom-made mannequins and presented in period-specific poses.

The mobile »3D-RealityCapture-ScanLab« was set up temporarily in the Klassik Stiftung Weimar’s textile restoration studio so that the garments would be handled with care and the need to transport them would be minimised. 

»It took us two days to set up the lab. It was quite time-consuming, but well worth the effort. The resulting 3D models provide exciting insight into capturing and digitalising textiles, as well as for creating additional digital worlds in the future«, explains Volker Rodehorst, Professor of »Computer Vision in Engineering«. The goal is to establish a long-term cooperation in order to develop 3D digitalisation expertise and, most importantly, to communicate and protect cultural heritage and make it accessible for Thuringia. 

The »3D-RealityCapture-ScanLab« was funded be the State of Thuringia through EFRE funding.

For questions, contact Juliane Seeber, Public Relations Officer and Marketing Manager in the Faculty of Media by e-mail: presse@medien.uni-weimar.de, or by phone: + 49 (0) 36 43 / 58 37 06.