Digital restoration of ancient loom: evaluation of the digital restoration process and display effect of Yunjin Dahualou Loom

The Yunjin Dahualou Loom is a precious artifact of China’s cultural heritage, with its production and weaving techniques recognized as invaluable intangible cultural heritage. This paper presents a digital restoration of the Yunjin Dahualou Loom, utilizing digital technology to preserve and inherit textile artifacts while addressing challenges such as the difficulty in the long-term preservation of wooden structures and the lengthy cycles involved in traditional restoration processes. Initially, field research was conducted to gather detailed information regarding the loom’s dimensions, structure, materials, manufacturing principles, and weaving techniques. Using AutoCAD software, the overall structure and weaving principles of the Yunjin Dahualou Loom were systematically organized and visually mapped. Next, Autodesk 3ds Max software was employed to digitally restore and assemble the loom’s various components, while also reconstructing its manufacturing and weaving principles in a digital environment. VRay software was then used to generate materials for the loom and render the scene in high fidelity. Finally, a combined approach using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is employed to assess the quality of digital restoration. The AHP is used to calculate weight coefficients, which are then verified through consistency checks. These weights are combined with data collected from fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to assess the digital restoration results. Finally, based on the principle of maximum membership degree, the digital restoration of the Yunjin Dahualou Loom is rated as “very good.” These findings demonstrate that the proposed method effectively reconstructs the loom’s form, structure, and weaving principles, completing its digital restoration. This approach provides a novel and relatively comprehensive method for the dynamic protection of cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage.