How technology is helping 'treat' paintings with 'diseases'

Art connoisseurs, the world over, splurge not only on great pieces of art, but also on their restoration and maintenance. Researchers at the Northwestern University discovered small acne-like bumps in Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and found that fatty acids in the binding material of the paint had formed metal soaps by reacting with lead and zinc pigments. They have now come up with a unique technology that can help diagnose 'diseases' invisible to the naked eye. The tool uses LCD display and camera already available on smartphones and tablets. With a simple wave across the surface of a painting, the app quickly digests the work’s precise, 3D surface structure, or metrology. This technology will help study the health of a painting and also preserve it for posterity.