3 steps to resurrect history

Goals for last week

I cheated a little this week. By that, I mean that I went ahead of schedule while not fully finishing the goals I set for last week. Let me explain. My goal was to finalize my methodology and gain access to Alviso’s Bayside Canning Company. My methodology is not finalized yet, but not only have I gained access to the Canning Company, I’ve also made a preliminary model.

Nevertheless, I am still on track for my big schedule, as my goal by the end of week 4 was to have my methodology and first model completed. I just went about it in a different order than planned.

Methodology

I have decided to combine my methodology and model display into one section. More specifically, I will be going through my current methodology while demonstrating how my preliminary model for the Bayside Canning Company took shape.

Artlist

The first software in my procedure is Artlist, an image to image AI model. Essentially, it allows me to combine and modify images in whatever way I choose.

Here’s Artlist in action with my model. Below, there are two pictures. The picture on the left is the unmodified and current version of the the Canning Company, while the picture on the right combines the current day image with an older image to generate a more accurate representation of what the company would’ve looked like in the 1920s.

Blender

To actually create the final model, I have decided to use the 3d modeling software Blender. I chose it because of it’s unique ability to generate a 3d model from 2d images, which allows it to pair perfectly with Artlist. To summarize, Artlist modifies the images to reconstruct the “prime” version of all of the building’s walls, and Blender merges the walls and other details together to create the model.

Here is my current Blender model of the Canning Company. Over the course of next week, I’ll try to make it more complete.

What’s missing

I am still trying to figure out a model that can bridge Artlist and Blender together. What I mean is that although Artlist’s image modifying abilities are incredibly effective, they can leave out some of the finer details on a building. I want to make my reconstructions as accurate as possible, so I will need another software to modify very specific details each image. The software I have in mind is Adobe Photoshop, but I am experimenting with other softwares too. Hopefully by the next blog, I’ll be able to show my completed procedure.

A discussion on ethics

As promised last week, I am dedicating a space in all my future blogs to discussing the ethics of what I’m doing. Specifically, I wanted to talk about the rapid improvement in AI models. In all of the source materials I’ve read, the central question they posit is how to accurately reconstruct models from the past. Now, image to image models make this issue far more manageable. But this begs the question: If AI models continue to improve at such a rapid pace, will there even be a need for humans who specialize in digital historical reservation?

To answer this question, I’ll break out my inner linguist. History is a humanities subject. Notice how you can’t spell humanities with the word “human.” Ok, that was pretty lame, but my point is that history is a subject that has exclusively been experienced by humans. If we entrusted the field of historical preservation to AI, then there will be no one left to fact check or edit the finer details that AI could miss, which could lead to important historical information being lost forever simply because AI overlooked or deemed it “not important.”

Basically, no matter how powerful AI becomes in the future, there will always be an important role for humans to fill in the field of historical preservation.

Goals for next week

• Finish methodology(specifically figure out how to integrate an image editing software)
• Finish model of Bayside Canning Company