Rekrei: A public platform for digitally preserving lost heritage
Matthew Luke Vincent, Chance Coughenour, Fabio Remondino, Mariano Flores Gutierrez, Victor Manuel Lopez-Menchero Bendicho, Dieter Fritsch
Abstract Rekrei (rekrei.org), formerly Project Mosul, is one of those projects that grows out of a conversation between two friends. The co-founders, Matthew Vincent and Chance Coughenour, were discussing the destruction of heritage in the Middle East by extremist groups such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State when Coughenour suggested that they could begin to crowd-source images and photogrammetrically create digital reconstructions of the heritage that was being systematically destroyed. A week later, Rekrei was born. Neither ever imagined that it would get the public’s attention, but such a project provides a very real and tangible response to the senseless loss of humanity’s past. 6 months later, Project Mosul has continued to grow, shifting from a single focus in norther Iraq, to a global focus on lost heritage everywhere. The co-founders are exploring ways they can continue to build tools that help identify monuments in danger, areas that should be prioritised for scanning and preservation, and ways they can continue to connect the public with tangible means of preserving the heritage. This paper explores some of these new topics, dealing with authenticity of 3D reconstructions, while also at the same time looking at public, crowd-sourcing projects and the challenges that they present when you combine a group of non-experts and high-profile destructions. Future work is looking at how this platform can be applied towards risk assessment and management, as well as improving the available tools to empower the public to engage in such reconstruction efforts for the preservation and recovery of lost heritage.
