This week, graduate students and professional archeologists from the University of California, San Diego are headed for Jordan, and they're taking their Xbox Kinect with them. Before they can launch a quick game of Halo 3, the researchers will employ the unique stereoscopic cameras of the Kinect in the hopes of finding historical manuscripts and relics.
The decision was mostly informed by financial realities -- conventional imaging technology was simply too expensive. However, as the Microsoft Kinect fell in price to compliment modern spending habits, suddenly 3D scanning became affordable!
Instead of tampering with thousand-year-old artifacts, UC archeologists can immediately scan the antique as its discovered in the earth. And by scanning the dig site as a whole, historians can easily recreate ruined cities and monuments in virtual space. Imagine rebuilding the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, without lifting a rock.
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