Virtual scientific expedition for 3D scanning of museum artifacts in the COVID-19 period – The methodology and case study

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way of working and living around the entire world. Unfortunately its influence on actions during scientific expeditions has to be evaluated as negative. Restrictions vastly limiting ability to travel around the world have frozen the execution of many institutional projects and initiatives, which has affected the cultural heritage domain as well. This article presents a methodology of temporarily avoiding travel restrictions by organizing a virtual scientific expedition. The 3D Silk Road project, and its modification enforced by the pandemic situation, is used as a case study. The authors describe: (1) the methodology of organizing virtual scientific expeditions to 3D scan objects of cultural heritage, (2) the methodology implementation, and (3) its results - a virtual micro-exhibition of 3D scanned works by Haydar Boturov, a clay sculptor from Uzbekistan. The methodology was proven successful in practice and might be used in other projects affected by severe travel restrictions between countries.