High Definition Volume Rendering Brings 2,500-Year-Old Mummy Back To Life

Irethorrou, an Egyptian priest entombed for thousands of years in the Middle Egyptian city of Akhmim, can now be seen like never before. Using state of the art High Definition Volume Rendering technology developed by Fovia, Inc., in conjunction with high resolution computed tomography (CT) scans provided by the Stanford Medical School’s Department of Radiology, Irethorrou’s long-held secrets have been revealed through advanced three-dimensional imaging techniques.

“Very Postmortem: Mummies and Medicine,” which opened on Halloween at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco, uses Fovia’s High Definition Volume Rendering, or HDVR , software to provide scientists new forensic insights into the ancient practice of mummification through the lens of the world’s most advanced imaging technology. With Fovia’s HDVR software, scientists have been able to learn a great deal about Irethorrou and how he was prepared for eternity, including the locations and textures of over a dozen magic amulets that were placed on his body during the intricate wrapping process.

“Having the chance to view Irethorrou in three dimensions is amazing in its own right, but having the chance to view him with Fovia’s software has increased the viewing experience to a unparalleled level of clarity and depth, allowing for more accurate analysis and interpretation. Fovia creates an unbelievable, breathtaking and lifelike view of the mummy, with intricate detail down to the 2,500-year-old crack in one of Irethorrou’s decorative amulets,” said Jonathan Elias, PhD, director of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium in Harrisburg, PA.

In the center of the exhibition, the fully wrapped mummy of Irethorrou lies supine within his decorated coffin, but the true centerpiece is the collection of HDVR movies displayed on a wall-mounted high definition monitor. Utilizing fly-throughs of the skull and body cavity, the movies reveal what the mummy cannot: the amazing preservation of its internal structures. The benefit of this dual presentation is the ability to observe the mummy wrapped in its entirety, undisturbed, while concurrently examining the anatomy and ornamentation of the ancient priest using HDVR. The virtual unwrapping is a way to explore the mummy without being disruptive to the exquisite form of the ancient relic.

To see images and a fly-through movie of Irethorrou, visit fovia.com.

Very Postmortem: Mummies and Medicine runs through August 2010 at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

[via Marketwire]

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