An Improved Method for 3D Style Transfer of Cliff Carvings Based on Gaussian Splatting

Cliff carvings, as significant art forms bearing historical, cultural, and religious connotations, face dual threats from natural weathering and human-induced damage. Their protection and restoration of the artistic style present pressing challenges. In recent years, the rapid advancement of digital technologies has offered new opportunities for preserving and reproducing cultural heritage. Particularly, 3D style transfer techniques are emerging as crucial tools for digital safeguarding. The advantages of three-dimensional style transfer in cultural heritage applications include dynamic stylized rendering, simulation of styles from multiple historical periods, alternative modes of exhibition, and facilitating a paradigm shift in conservation practices from static digital archiving to dynamic revitalization. This study proposes a novel 3D stylization method for cliff carvings by integrating 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) and Nearest Neighbor Feature Matching (NNFM) loss metric. The method represents ancient cliff carvings as a set of optimizable 3D Gaussians representation, enabling efficient capture and processing of complex geometric structures and rich textural details. By integrating the textural and geometric characteristics of the target artistic style, 3DGS facilitates high-quality transfer of diverse artistic styles while effectively preserving the original intricate details of the carvings. Additionally, we employ the NNFM loss function to transfer 2D visual details into 3D representations while maintaining multi-perspective style consistency. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits significant advantages in texture fidelity, style consistency, and rendering efficiency. This research showcases the potential of our model for the digital preservation and presentation of cliff-carved cultural heritage, offering an innovative technological approach with theoretical value and practical significance.