Batak Toba Cultural Heritage and Close-range Photogrammetry

This paper discusses the use of close-range photogrammetry techniques for documenting a traditional Batak Toba house in Samosir Island, North Sumatra. The discussion is to bring awareness of its possible uses for preserving traditional houses and promoting them as cultural heritage. The most significant role of the method in cultural heritage is its future for 3D visualization for the public engagement in cultural heritage conservation programs. Close-range photogrammetry techniques produce a photorealistic 3D model of the house that helps people understand the sophisticated and complex house form more easily. They have provided flexibility in data acquisition as the non-metric camera is affordable and operable by anyone. Compared to other 3D modeling techniques, the close-range photogrammetry delivers a variety of data, from 2D images of photographs, dense point clouds, geometry of the object, and solid 3D model.