Digital Workflow for Creating 3D Puzzles to Engage Audiences in the Interpretation of Archaeological Artefacts

Abstract

3D physical puzzles are typically used to engage audiences in the interpretation of archaeological artefacts in a museum exhibition. The reason for this is that a puzzle can be seen as a game but also as a complex activity that archaeologists undertake to re-assemble fragments. The contribution of this paper is a novel digital worfklow for the design and fabrication of 3D heritage puzzles. The input to the workflow is an authentic artefact from a heritage collection, which is then digitised using technologies such as 3D scanning and 3D modelling. Thereafter, a puzzle generator produces the 3D puzzle pieces using a cell fracture algorithm and generates a set of puzzle pieces (female) and a single core piece (male) for fabrication. Finally, the pieces are fabricated using 3D printing technology and post-processed to facilitate the puzzle assembly. To demonstrate the workflow, we deploy the proposed method to create a 3D puzzle of an artefact, the Saltdean urn, for the Archaeological Gallery of the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. The significance of this research is that it eases the task of creating puzzle-like activities and maintaining them within a busy museum gallery.