The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), is the oldest (founded in 1837) and most prestigious Engineering University in Greece with a large involvement and participation in research projects both in a National and European level. NTUA has been ranked at the 10th position among all the European Universities in terms of research funded by the EU and at the 17th position among all the research centres in Europe. The Lab. of Photogrammetry, covering also Signal Processing & Computer Vision is involved in performing research in photogrammetry, digitization, data capturing and computer vision for more than 30 years. The Laboratory has participated in the data acquisition, digitization and 3D presentation of numerous tangible cultural items either small objects or large constructions in Greece, Cyprus, Israel and elsewhere. Moreover, research is conducted on digitizing intangible cultural heritage assets.
The Lab. is involved in 3D Data Collection process due to its high experience in this field. Examples include the digitization of entire archaeological and cultural sites such as Eleutherna, Daphni, a UNESCO World Heritage Monument, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Athens Ancient Agora, the Zalongo Monument, the Byzantine Churches of Troodos (Asinou, Holy Cross, Archangel Michael) in Cyprus, all UNESCO WHL monuments.
The Lab. is involved in 3D applications due to their great experience in Digital Photogrammetry, Computer Vision Tools and Image Retrieval Algorithms applied. Dissemination and communication strategies are supported. The Laboratory members publish many scientific papers in key journals and conferences every year, while it has organized key workshops in conjunction with the famous International Computer Vision Conference (ICCV) and European Conference Vision Conference (ECCV), CIPA-Heritage documentation and ACM Multimedia Conference, while some members of the team have served as editors in several distinguished journals, like Multimedia Tools and Applications Springer Press, Future Generation Computer Systems, Elsevier Press.
The Director of the Lab. Prof. Andreas Georgopoulos is a prominent member of the scientific community of digitization technologies in cultural heritage applications and research being actively involved in CIPA-Heritage Documentation activities (Secr. General 2011-2014 and President 2015-2018). The International Committee for Documentation of Cultural Heritage (CIPA) is one of the international committees of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and it was established in collaboration with ISPRS (International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing).
The Laboratory also supports Education & Research in the field of Photogrammetry, Computer Vision, and Cadaster and Land Management, offering 9 U/G and 4 P/G courses, i.e. Photogrammetry (3), Photographic data acquisition, Monument documentation, Photogrammetry field course, Cadastral theory & Applications and Real Estate evaluation. Moreover, it fosters continuous updating of research and education and attracts and funds young researchers striving for interdisciplinary collaborations with Research Institutes, Industry, Educational Institutions, International Unions etc.
The main topics of Applied Research of the Lab of Photogrammetry include development, investigation and automation of basic photogrammetric algorithms, 2D and 3D documentation, fusion of image measurements to computer vision, combination of contemporary photogrammetric methods to computer vision, development, adaptation and implementation of contemporary methods for the geometric documentation of Cultural heritage. Approximately 21 research projects (2008-2017) with total funding 2.1 m € (EU, Erasmus, GSRT, Greek State, private enterprises etc.) have been successfully conducted by the members of the Laboratory and approximately 10 peer reviewed publications per year in International Journals & Conferences are published. The personnel include 6 Faculty members (Surveying Eng. and 2 Electrical & Computer Eng.), and 4 Technical Staff (3 Surveyor Eng + 1 Photographer).