The Long Game of 3D Data: Policy, Preservation, and Reuse

Over the past three decades, The Discovery Programme has established itself as leaders in 3D digital documentation for cultural heritage across a range of scales, including landscapes, historic buildings, architectural features and archaeological artefacts. We have developed a sophisticated pipeline for creating intricately detailed, geometrically accurate, and lightweight 3D models. This pipeline retains the integrity of the original subject while delivering high-quality engaging user experiences and has been applied to legacy and newly captured datasets enhancing model outputs. To date, we have produced nearly 1,000 3D models, many of which have been contextually enriched. Over 400 have metadata records in Europeana and approximately 650 are publicly available through Sketchfab - an online platform for sharing, discovering and viewing 3D models. This platform has been waning in popularity since acquisition by Epic Games, which has launched a commercial platform in its place. This commercialisation of 3D objects is in contrast with the open data model increasingly adopted by academics and heritage professionals. Furthermore, while Sketchfab and its replacement can be considered repositories, long-term digital preservation does not fall within their remit, and no steps are taken to ensure the longevity of deposited models as methods, software and technology advance. Efforts have been made to explore alternative 3D publication platforms, including the Smithsonian Voyager Story Tool which provides a richer authoring framework. Although the original purpose of many of the 3D models were to create digital replicas for conservation or for assessing landscape change over time, the models possess significant value both within and outside of the organisation and offer substantial potential for meaningful reuse. For example, in tourism to provide access to at-risk sites located on dangerous or private land, in education as a resource to support teaching and learning, in research such as climate change studies seeking to measure impact on heritage sites, in heritage management for conservation and monitoring purposes, and in gaming by incorporating the digital replicas into computer and video games as exemplified by the reuse of several of the Discovery Programme’s 3D models in Hogwarts Legacy game. An alternative example of reuse can be provided by the Ballinderry gaming board which was captured and modelled by The Discovery Programme to digitally preserve this unique archaeological artefact. The model was repurposed for 3D printing, enabling the public to participate in a practical and playful tournament using the reconstruction of Viking board game Hnefatafl. Motivated by the value of our models, the volume of data generated, and the loss of confidence in our current solution for sharing them, we are critically re-examining the data life cycle of our 3D models. In this paper we will share past, present, and future practices adopting a reflective and exploratory approach, which embraces both pitfalls and benefits. Framed through the lens of ‘play’, we will test solutions to making our 3D models FAIRer through improvements to metadata and paradata creation, assessing sustainable file formats, evaluating licenses and exploring platforms for sharing semantically rich 3D models while considering long-term digital preservation.