Digital Heritage

This study describes a process for digitizing 3D documentation with 3d laser scanner tools. The process of capturing 3D data is mainly for as-built environment in reconstruction and documentation of historical scenes. For retrieving the 3d shape of historical building, the workflow needs to be developed in terms of 3D data acquisition, 3D modeling, documentation and web-based representation. For practical demonstration, several cases present the reconstructed results and the application of virtual scene. These practical cases were applied the technique solution to approach digitizing tasks of preservation for cultural heritage, which could evoke more heritage preservation issues.

The paper presents a complete methodology for processing sets of data registered by the means of a measurement system providing integrated 3D shape, multispectral color and angular reflectance characteristic. The data comprise of clouds of points representing the shape of the measured object, a set of intensity responses as a function of wavelength of incident light used for color calculation and a set of distributions of reflected intensity as a function of illumination and observation angles. Presented approach allows to create a complete 3D model of the measured object which preserves the object’s shape, color and reflectivity properties. It is developed specifically for application in the digitization of cultural heritage objects for storing and visualization purposes, as well as duplication by the means of 3D printing technology.

In this paper, the concept of computational environment for processing of very large datasets (clouds of points with amount up to 10

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measurement points) obtained from 3D shape measurement systems, is presented. The software design is directed at maximum automation of processing, allows for defining scripts describing complicated calculations which make user interaction and attendance during operations unnecessary. The following paper describes main postulates of the environment along with its practical exemplary implementation as the application controlling fully automated 3D shape measurement system, 3DMADMAC AUTO, designed for precise, autonomous digitization of cultural heritage objects.

The interest in the generation of 3D façade models is increasing more and more. TLS data have introduced other visions to deal with this topic. This paper proposes a new approach to façade modelling using TLS data. Geometric relevant features of façades are first extracted via a segmentation algorithm. Then, based on the segmentation results, the automatic extraction of edges has been carried out. Afterwards, the edges are decomposed into straight segments and arcs, based on the criterion of the collinearity of points. Then, the intersection points are calculated based on the study of their geometric characteristics, as well as their topological relationships. These points allow us to construct the parametric objects that can be correctly sized and completed via an interactive graphical user interface.

In the last years the Geomatic Research Group of the Politecnico di Torino faced some new research topics about new instruments for point cloud generation (e.g. Time of Flight cameras) and strong integration between multi-image matching techniques and 3D Point Cloud information in order to solve the ambiguities of the already known matching algorithms. ToF cameras can be a good low cost alternative to LiDAR instruments for the generation of precise and accurate point clouds: up to now the application range is still limited but in a near future they will be able to satisfy the most part of the Cultural Heritage metric survey requirements. On the other hand multi-image matching techniques with a correct and deep integration of the point cloud information can give the correct solution for an “intelligent” survey of the geometric object break-lines, which are the correct starting point for a complete survey. These two research topics are strictly connected to a modern Cultural Heritage 3D survey approach. In this paper after a short analysis of the achieved results, an alternative possible scenario for the development of the metric survey approach inside the wider topic of Cultural Heritage Documentation is reported.

Scientists and conservators, involved in cultural heritage documentation management, have to furnish not only qualitative but also quantitative description of the assessment of state of conservation that is incomplete without a realistic estimation of degradation conditions. Scientists and technicians, involved in analytical analysis, are able to satisfy these needs through stone or paints sampling analysis, often destructive when approaching a monument. The paper refers to the application of the Digital Image Processing and non-invasive damage analysis (ICAW technique) employed to verify in qualitative and quantitative way the decay of stone and rock paintings.

In this paper an alternative method for measuring the Classic Marathon Course using photogrammetric methodology is presented and examined. The course is surveyed in stereoscopic environment and therefore the measurement is performed directly in 3D space. The produced elevation data after the processing procedure are presented in the section plan at a scale of 1:5.000. The Digital Surface Model, with a step of 5m, and the orthophotomap at a scale 1:2.000 of a corridor area, with width of 100m on either side of the course represents an additional product of the photogrammetric method. At the end, in this thesis the photogrammetric methodology is being assessed and evaluated, but also it is being compared with the conventional method of the calibrated bicycle and finally are conclusions drawn and proposals are attempted.

This paper explores a novel use of Geographic Information Systems and Landscape Metrics in the characterization of lacunae and retouching areas on panel paintings. The aim is to understand some spatial properties of original and non-original areas and contribute to the documentation of conservation and restoration treatments with valuable information. The study uses an orthophoto of the analysed artwork in a GIS program to produce polygons with a direct visual interpretation, corresponding to the major colour zones, the lacunae and the retouching areas. Over these areas landscape metrics are applied and interpreted. The result is a useful set of values describing spatial properties and relations between lacunae, retouching areas and the unaffected zones in the painting. These quantified parameters extend the traditional qualitative diagnosis reports on the state of conservation of artworks and contribute to support the evaluation of conservation and restoration projects.

One of the most significant consequences of the introduction of digital 3D modeling in the Cultural Heritage field is the possibility to use 3D models as highly effective and intuitive means of communication as well as interface to share and visualize information collected in databases. Due to the usual complexity of architectural and archaeological artifacts or sites, their digital models need be subdivided in sub-components and organized following semantic definitions in order to facilitate data retrieval. This paper outlines a methodology to semantically segment complex reality-based 3D models, annotate information and share the results within online open-source tools. The segmentation stage to subdivide and organize 3D models is based on both automated and manual methods, giving priority to automated procedures that can ease and speed these steps but not neglecting the user intervention to achieve accurate results. The segmented 3D models are then visualized in web-based systems to allow data access to a wider range of users and enlarge knowledge. The methodology is presented and tested on large and complex reality-based 3D models of architectural and archaeological heritage structures.

Modern high resolution 3D-measuring techniques are widely used in quality control and industrial production, because they allow precise and reliable inspection of objects. Their potential to monitor surfaces, however, must not be restricted to industrial objects. Also in cultural heritage applications a detailed and reliable spatial description of surfaces is often useful and opens up new possibilities for conservation, analysis or presentation of objects.

In the actual work we have considered Buddhistic stone inscriptions (8th-12th centuries) which are important cultural assets of China. They need to be documented, analyzed, interpreted and visualized archaeologically, art-historically and text-scientifically. On one hand such buddhistic stone inscriptions have to be conserved for future generations but on the other hand further possibilities for analyzing the data could be enabled when the inscriptions would be accessible to a larger community, for instance the understanding of the historical growth of Buddhism in China.

In this article we show innovative techniques for the documentation and analysis of stone inscriptions located in the province of Sichuan - south-west of china. The stone inscriptions have been captured using high precision 3D-measuring techniques what produces exact copies of the original inscriptions serving as base for further processing tasks. Typical processing might be directed towards an improvement of the legibility of characters or may try to automatically detect individual letters, to automatically identify certain text passages or even to characterize the written elements with respect to a potential style of the monk or the executing stonemason. All these processing steps will support the interpretation of the inscriptions by the sinologists involved with the analysis and evaluation of the texts. The concept and features of the image processing applied on the captured inscription as well as the aims and the effect of an interpretation based on algorithms for identifying and analyzing the inscriptions are demonstrated. In order to present the outcome to a large community, the results of the stone inscription reconstruction, the done interpretation and additional 2D / 3D maps are published within an interactive web platform.

Digital cultural heritage in interactive form can take different shapes. It can be either in the form of interactive virtual representations of non-digital objects like buildings or nature, but also as born digital materials like interactive art and video games. To preserve these materials for a long term, we need to perform preservation actions on them. To check the validity of these actions, the original and the preserved form have to be compared. While static information like images or text documents can be migrated to new formats, especially digital objects which are interactive have to be preserved using new rendering environments.

In this paper we show how the results of rendering an object in different environments can be compared. We present a workflow with three stages that supports the execution of digital objects in a rendering environment, the application of interactive actions in a standardized way to ensure no deviations due to different interactions, and the XCL Layout processor application that extends the characterized screenshots of the rendering results by adding information about significant areas in the screenshot allowing us to compare the rendering results. We present case studies on interactive fiction and a chess program that show that the approach is valid and that the rendering results can be successfully compared.

Within the last few years generative modeling techniques have gained attention especially in the context of cultural heritage. As a generative model describes a rather ideal object than a real one, generative techniques are a basis for object description and classification. This procedural knowledge differs from other kinds of knowledge, such as declarative knowledge, in a significant way. It can be applied to a task. This similarity to algorithms is reflected in the way generative models are designed: they are programmed. In order to make generative modeling accessible to cultural heritage experts, we created a generative modeling framework which accounts for their special needs. The result is a generative modeler (http://www.cgv.tugraz.at/euclides) based on an easy-to-use scripting language (JavaScript). The generative model meets the demands on documentation standards and fulfils sustainability conditions. Its integrated meta-modeler approach makes it independent from hardware, software and platforms.

Publishing cultural heritage as 3D models with embedded annotations and additional information on the web is still a major challenge. This includes the acquisition of the digital 3D model, the authoring and editing of the additional information to be attached to the digital model as well as publishing it in a suitable format. These steps usually require very expensive hardware and software tools. Especially small museums cannot afford an expensive scanning campaign in order to generate the 3D models from the real artifacts. In this paper we propose an affordable publishing workflow from acquisition of the data to authoring and enriching it with the related metadata and information to finally publish it in a way suitable for access by means of a web browser over the internet. All parts of the workflow are based on open source solutions and free services.

In the context of an integrated pilot study between the HafenCity University Hamburg, the Jade University of Applied Sciences in Oldenburg and the Agency for Geo-Information and Surveying Hamburg the Bismarck monument in Hamburg has been scanned with the Z+F IMAGER 5006 3D laser scanning system to generate a virtual 3D model of the monument from the laser scanning data using different programs. A substantial aspect for modelling was data reduction, since the generated 3D model has to be integrated into the city model of Hamburg with the smallest possible data volume. Therefore a combination of triangle meshing and CAD turned out to be an optimal solution. Furthermore, the extent to which the modelled data can be reduced by appropriate polygon decimation, in order to derive a geometrically correct and visually attractive result (virtual 3D model), has been investigated. The geometrical quality of the model was evaluated on the basis of reference values. As well as the integration of the virtual model into the city model of Hamburg the generated virtual model was also prepared for interactive visualisations. For the entire processing of the project time management of the individual work procedures has been calculated, in order to derive statements about the economy of the project. Thus conclusions/recommendations for further projects on object recording, modelling and visualization of such historical buildings and monuments using this procedure with this technology could be provided.

A map series of 1920s Mytilene town, property of Lesvos Archives, had been inaccessible due to its poor condition. One map of this series was restored, scanned, digitised and given a geographical reference system. Geographical coordinates were collected, and geoinformatics technology was used to create a geographically corrected map in GCS- GGRS-1987 Geographical Coordinated System and Greek Grid as a Projected Coordinated System. Comparison of the map to a 1953 map series revealed that the latter is a hand-made copy of the first. Therefore GIS tools were used to digitally visualise missing areas of the authentic map. This project may open new horizons for the Mytilene cartographic heritage through the creation of a digital map library, featuring the history of the town’s cartography, and the development and use of new interpretation tools allowing online access for educational and recreational activities.

The Idalion Tablet, an antique bronze (480-470 BC) found around 1850 in the antique city of Idalion in Cyprus is the main purpose of the presented interdiciplinary work. The tablet is the property of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) since 1862, and is absent from collections of the Idalion Museum (Cyprus). Our final goal is to realise an accurate copy of the Idalion Tablet (scale 1, with no patina) as a donation to the Mayor of Dhali on behalf of the "Local History Society – Kypros". As the Tablet has an important cultural and historical value, we were not allowed to handle it directly neither to realise a mould by physical contact. Therefore, we used 3D digitization to create a virtual and accurate replica of the Tablet shape. By rapid prototyping a physical copy of the Tablet was obtained for casting with bronze. The simulated tablet, thanks to a very accurate 3D digitization, was obtained with the Virtuelium free software. With the elementary composition of the alloy, the complex index of refraction of the alloy was calculated and compared to spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. A didactic movie is also in progress and will be translated first into greek and later into several languages.

The ScotlandsPlaces project is an official, permanent website found at www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk. It exhibits a very novel and exciting way of searching across cultural heritage information. It uses geography to discover relevant records and lets the public sift through the results using geographic-based technologies. The ScotlandsPlaces website has seen the development of innovative technologies including the redevelopment of open-source geo-middleware, the ScotlandsPlaces XML schema for data transfer and the use of dynamic map interfaces for user querying. Although these technologies that sit behind the site are innovative and cutting edge, the website itself has a simple design and is easy to use. System developments such as the digital volumes management system allow different partner organisations to include resources in a standard format, efficiently disseminating information to the public.

Despite the multitude of impact measurement techniques available to heritage site managers there is a case for the bigger strategic picture to figure more strongly in impact measurement decision making for ICT and 3D applications in the heritage sector. Discussions with heritage mangers raised the need for a holistic practical social impact model, one which combines impact measurement with overall strategic decision making considerations, accommodating internal and external dimensions of impact, as well as mission (and vision) and stakeholder perspectives; and one that embeds impact as a dynamic issue for management in heritage organisations. The 3D-ISF approach is broadly divided into two complementary elements. The left side of the framework considers the strategic perspective of the organization, while the right side encapsulates the impact measurement. The two elements combine to form a holistic vision of the interaction between the site strategy, 3D deployment and its relationship to impact.

Museums research new ways to offer positive experience to the visitors and encourage them to return, using modern communication and learning tools. To the effect, technologically advanced interactive ICT systems, are placed in modern-day museums. In this paper we describe and compare six different types of museum exhibits, one traditional and five interactive ICT exhibits. The five interactive ICT systems offer different types and level of digital information, different interaction constraints and different types of activities. The exhibits, which are located in the Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia, are the following: a traditional map learning activity, a virtual tour projection, a multi-touch table application and three different augmented reality applications. We evaluated the experience of young users with the exhibits and conclude that the experience scores top marks for the interactive ICT systems.

The communication of cultural heritage in public spaces such as museums or exhibitions, gain more and more importance during the last years. The possibilities of interactive 3D applications open a new degree of freedom beyond the mere presentation of static visualizations, such as pre-produced video or image data. A user is now able to directly interact with 3D virtual environments that enable the depiction and exploration of digital cultural heritage artifacts in real-time. However, such technology requires concepts and strategies for guiding a user throughout these scenarios, since varying levels of experiences within interactive media can be assumed. This paper presents a concept as well as implementation for communication of digital cultural heritage in public spaces, by example of the project Roman Cologne. It describes the results achieved by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, designers, and computer graphics engineers with the aim to virtually reconstruct an interactive high-detail 3D city model of Roman Cologne.

We introduce an online knowledge base for semantic representation and annotation of a world heritage site in danger. For this purpose we designed ontology inside the protégé tool with multiple metadata-based schemas to represent a knowledge base for heritage buildings and to annotate heterogeneous data sources. The ontology schema also references multiple bibliographies so it can gather the complex history of each building, or multiple coordinated locations of each building. We built an ontology-driven Website generation system “Bam3DCG” based on the Resource Description Framework graph exported from Protégé, and discuss practical problems for this type of system.

This investigation, funded by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and conducted in the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) of the Glasgow University, is part of the activities within the Data Asset Framework (DAF) to provide research organisations with an online tool to identify, locate, describe and assess how they are managing their research data assets. This research has produced a metadata set fitted for the implementation of curation and preservation policies in small research institutions. In this paper, the DAF DDI profile will be exposed and explained. Further, it will be discussed, the advantages this metadata set offers to the small Cultural Heritage institutions for supporting curation and preservation policies. The DAF DDI profile is the first example of a DDI 3.1 implementation in a general curatorial context, that is not disciplinary specific, and its integration with PREMIS 2.0 is the first published mapping of PREMIS to DDI.

Cultural heritage forms the local and national identities. It shapes relationships between neighbors and other communities around the world. The sweet wine named “Commandaria” is part of Cypriot heritage and currently holds a protected destination of origin within European Union, USA and Canada. In the framework of the Commandaria project we managed to gather an enormous amount of data, related to Commandaria wine, corresponding to photographs, scanned documents and videos. The need of a method for efficient retrieval of these data based on their actual content was mandatory. The data were appropriately indexed through a multilevel labeling scheme allowing access from various modalities and for a variety of applications. Despite the huge efforts for automatic characterization and classification human intervention is the only way for reliable multimedia data annotation. Manual data annotation is an extremely laborious process and efficient tools developed for this purpose can make, in many cases, the true difference. In this paper we present the CulHIAT, a cultural heritage item annotation tool, which uses structured knowledge, in the form of XML dictionaries, combined with a hierarchical classification scheme, to attach semantic labels to image and video segments at various levels of granularity. Finally, XML dictionary creation and editing tools are available during annotation allowing the user to always use the semantic label she/he wishes instead of the automatically created ones.

The aim of the study is to validate hyperspectral ground data for the detection of buried architectural remains. For this reason spectro-radiometric measurements were taken from an archaeological area in Cyprus. Field spectro-radiometric measurements were undertaken from March to May of 2010. Spectro-radiometric measurements were taken over the previously detected magnetic anomalies using the GER 1500 spectroradiometer and they were found to be in a general agreement with the geophysical results. The results of the subsequent excavations which took place in the area verified partially the geophysical and spectro-radiometric measurements. However, the results obtained from the in-situ spectro-radiometric campaigns were found very useful for detecting spectral vegetation anomalies related with buried features. This is an issue which the authors will continue to investigate since it has proven that local conditions of the area, such as geology, is a key parameter for the detection of buried architectural remains.

The island of Crete is an area with continuous habitation for more than 6 thousand years consisting of a variety of archaeological sites. The vulnerability of those archaeological sites is extremely high due to the changing land-use practices and various natural disasters. The use of modern technologies such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Global Positioning Systems is considered to provide a valuable tool for the protection of cultural heritage from human and environmental threats. Additionally, sophisticated classification methods based on fuzzy and neural networks theory contribute to a more detailed and precise mapping of the archaeological regime of the island.

The traditional sculptures with posture and beauty are created by the fingers of sculptors, and these traditional techniques cannot be replaced by contemporary computer technologies. However, based on the development of 3D scanning technology, computers have more influences on sculptures. In terms of preservation, the sculptures can be permanently preserved in the form of a computer triangular mesh surface, which could be stored and distributed in any digital formats, and also can be replicated by rapid prototyping or computer automatic cutting. The aim of this project intends to permanently preserve four serious sculptures of a famous sculptor, Mr. Tien-Seng Poo, from the early Taiwan history. In addition, this project is not only proposing a standard process from 3D scanning to texture mapping, but also demonstrating some applications of exhibition, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and rapid prototype, at the end of this project.

The “E.Stone” project is based on the survey, documentation investigation and physical, geochemical and petrographic characterisation of the great zoomorphic and phytomorphic stones of Sardinia. The name chosen to indicate this project means the full value of these stones, standing before the beginning of human history. The main task of this project is to survey and to document, with an accurate laserscan survey, supported by topographical survey and integrated by GPS tracing and photographic and photogrammetric survey and supported by specific investigations on the rock characteristics. The further development of the collected data will be aimed to the definition of a digital “state of the knowledge” about the stone. This research will produce two main benefits: the creation of a clear and stable archive of these monuments and on the second hand will create the possibility to reply at any distance, a copy in any material of the original item.

This paper presented our approach to developing the 3d model of A Famosa Faortress in Melaka, Malaysia. As the physical remnant of the fortress are minimal, a traditional 3D modelling technique based on collected data has been adopted. This method has been adopted based on case studies of three comparable reconstruction projects namely Michelsberg synagogue, The Jewish Quarter in Regensburg and Reconstruction of the old main church in Curitiba, Brazil. In this paper we discussed the 3D modeling technique used and presented some output of the model.

3D digitizing technology has a variety of applications including reverse engineering, quality control, virtual reality and digital heritage. Recently, great development in 3D digitizing technology facilitates archaeology and digital preservation of cultural heritage. In this paper, we introduce a 3D digitizing pipeline for cultural heritage. By using 3D technology, both geometry and texture can be recovered with high precision. Four main applications including digital archiving, 3D line drawing, virtual restoration and virtual display are introduced. The technology has been successfully implemented in many digital heritage projects such as Longmen, Xiangtangshan, Maijishan, Nanyuewang museum and so on. These projects demonstrate that 3D digitization greatly facilitates archeology and plays an important role in cultural heritage protection.

The aim of this project paper is to explore the opportunities and challenges of using ICT in the understanding, representation, preservation, management, interpretation of cultural heritage and its Man initiated deconstruction. Aggressive urban development and the rampant growth of tourism pose major problems to world heritage sites. Of particular interest for this project paper are issues related to the specific town of Beirut through interactive virtual reality, and making virtual reality user-friendly and available resources for the general public. A virtual Platform is presented in order to explore and map the challenges and opportunities of using ICT in cultural heritage. This virtual Platform provides a forum to examine and discuss current practices and future directions in the representation, documentation and communication of cultural heritage using ICT. It aims to provide an occasion to share and exchange experiences and research findings, to stimulate more ideas and useful insights regarding the uses of ICT in cultural heritage.

Six Mediterranean countries are participating in the “Mare Nostrum” project: “A Heritage Trail along the Phoenician maritime routes and through the historic port cities”; the goal of this project is to valorize the cultural heritage of the sites involved by promoting and supporting sustainable tourism. WP4 concentrates on the port cities of Tyre and Tartous, chosen as pilot sites. The on site research was conducted in accordance with the WP4 objectives: on the one hand a survey campaign was set up to acquire metric and qualitative data on the structures chosen as samples; on the other hand an enormous amount of photographic and video documentation was collected for the 3D models that were produced in the first phase. The paper will describe how the disciplines involved in Geomatics can provide important contributions to all four phases of the Heritage and Development framework.

This paper presents a Virtual Archaeology application realized using ViSMan (Cineca), an open-source framework for visualization and interaction with scientific 3Dmodels connected to digital archives of data. The source for data was research project (survey and documentation, study and communication) carried out by the University of Bologna in the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Through a collaboration with Cineca VisITLab - experienced in virtual environments design for research and education purposes - virtual models were used as 3D archive for management and visualization of this huge amount of relevant data, thus developing a spatially structured interface for data retrieval and contextualization. The implemented application - ViSMan-DHER - allows navigation through several reconstructed Scenarios; access is provided to a rich archive of data, related to the whole region territory as well as pertaining to a single wall-painting. Some remarks and hints for future development are listed in the conclusive section.

In this paper we present the framework for collaborative cyberarchaeology with support for teleimmersive communication which aims to provide more natural interaction and higher level of embodiment. Within the framework we create tools for exploration, interaction and communication of archaeologists in a shared virtual environment. Users at different geographical locations are captured by a set of stereo cameras to generate their real-time 3D avatars. The proposed framework is intended to serve as a virtual simulation environment where advanced behaviours, actions and new methodologies of research and training in archaeology, cognitive science and computer science could be tested.

We explain our approach for verifying the accuracy of 3D CG manual modeling of the Citadel of Bam, which is an architectural heritage site destroyed by an earthquake in 2003. We attempted to control both the architectural quality of the 3D models with different methods and the technical 3D CG aspects since the 3D models of the Citadel of Bam need to be presented in a realistic virtual reality environment and also for research of buildings and spaces. Accuracy verification of 3D models was conducted through instructions and evaluation reports prepared by experts for modeling teams and different discussions between experts and 3D modelers.

The research is focused on traditional timber frame structures (TFS) situated in rural areas. Often neglected, remaining examples embody our build Heritage. However, architects have few tools to manage a conservation project in respect to the structural authenticity of these constructions. Therefore, providing a complementary tool able to automatically recognize and reconstruct traditional rural timber walling which have been structurally transformed is the major function of our research. The tool should automate as much as possible the procedure in two steps. Firstly, record the available examples of gables and identify their typologies. Secondly, formulate transformations hypothesis of a given wooden structure through time. The recording procedure is made by analyzing pictures with image processing in order to extract the wooden structures from colored pictures. The typology recognition is based on a statistical approach where’ as structural approach will help to achieve reconstruction hypothesis. Structure recording and typology recognition will be presented in this paper.

CARARE is a best practice network funded by the European Commission’s ICT Policy Support Programme. The network brings together heritage agencies, organisations, archaeological museums, research institutions and specialist digital archives to establish a service that will make digital content for Europe’s unique archaeological monuments and historic sites interoperable with Europeana. As well as bringing 2D images and text documents to Europeana, CARARE will bring a mass of geo-referenced content to Europeana and adds 3D and Virtual Reality as new content types. This paper looks at the activities of the CARARE project in establishing and aggregation service for the archaeology/architecture domain including work to mediate the rich metadata held by the domain for presentation in the Europeana Data Model, the use of semantic web technologies such as SKOS, and work on the documentation and preparation of 3D and VR content for online publication and discovery via the Europeana search service.

AEgArOn is an international three-year project striving for the open access online publication of high-quality plans and architectural drawings of ancient Egyptian buildings. These will give a globally accessible and reliable overview of the Pharaonic architecture including all major ancient Egyptian periods and building types. Moreover, the information is researched in detail, collected from the best available sources, combined in redrawn CAD-plans, checked on-site, and accounted for in extensive metadata. As a rule, actual state- and reconstruction-plans are provided, often complemented by plans of building-phases. Newly developed drawing conventions allow for immediate understanding and comparison between monuments. Long term sustainability and maintenance is ensured by incorporation into the UCLA Digital Library. Since starting in October 2009, and after six months eighteen PDF-files of five buildings have been completed and published online.

The Digital Humanities Observatory was created to support the long-term management of electronic cultural heritage resources for the digital humanities in Ireland. However, the project grant was for three years and the economic downturn has diminished opportunities for continued funding. The challenge is to demonstrate the importance and value of maintaining these e-resources, and to make it feasible for the resource owners to do so without the DHO if necessary. ICT systems can support cost effective and value-adding access and management of resources in a way that might be sustained in the short-term by organizations and projects that lack the funding, staffing, and skills to build and operate a digital preservation environment. In this project paper we describe how the DHO uses technology to promote the value of preservation and interoperability of e-resources, and to provide a means for achieving these goals in the face of significant sustainability risks.

Linking 3D photorealistic and virtual reality models with contents of bibliographic repositories and resources is needed for archeological and historical analyses, public understanding of ancient settlements, and simple common sense studies using web content. As the Web 2.0 is used more and more by the community, it will help to deepen the knowledge of many interested internet users. Within this paper, a combination of 3D photorealistic modeling and content of bibliographic repositories, which describes the history of the Hirsau Abbey, Germany, is presented. In particular, it will serve for the special needs of the Verein “Freunde Kloster Hirsau e.V.” which is a registered association for taking care of the Hirsau Cultural Heritage site. The 3D photorealistic models have been acquired by means of static LiDAR and HD close range photogrammetry.

This document describes the working environment developed by ESCoM laboratory (Equipe Sémiotique Cognitive et Nouveaux Médias, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme) during the ASA-SHS project (Audiovisual Semiotic Workshop for Human and Social Sciences). ASA-SHS is a R&D project financed by the French National Research Agency (ANR, Programme Blanc 2008) and targets to develop strategies of indexing and semiotic description for audiovisual resources in Social and Human Sciences. The environment developed by ESCoM is a complete environment for managing, describing and publishing audiovisual documents for research and learning. It consists more particularly in tools, resources and distant services for: 1/Management of audiovisual documents, 2/ Management of ontological resources, 3/Semiotic description of documents, 4/Publishing of documents in web portals, 5/Exploitation of documents in the form of publications dedicated to specific uses.

The unique value of cultural heritage has long been recognized together with the need for accurate and detailed information in order to preserve and manage cultural heritage material. Any organization whose mission includes promoting access to information is aware of the value of digital collections. For the last few years, digital technology has become very familiar in cultural organizations, providing enhanced access to the content. This paper gives information about Ktisis (http://ktisis.cut.ac.cy), the institutional repository of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). Ktisis was developed by the Library and Information Services of CUT. The paper reflects on the technical issues that the Library had to face in the preparation of this project and the strategy that had to be defined in order to tackle them. Such issues, among others, include the file and metadata format, the design and implementation software, etc.

The island of Nelson is situated around 7-8 miles far from the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, and about 25 km far from Alexandria of Egypt. It has small size, since it doesn’t currently overcome the 350 m

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, even if in the antiquity it was greater: geologic phenomena and activity of cave sensibly reduced the emerged part of it. Campaigns of excavation were carried on that have brought to light important rests related to a fortification and to a military installation, inscriptions of Greek and Byzantine epoch, enormous complexes for the water restocking and a necropolis of late epoch. In the circle of the collaboration in the research CMAIA the geodetic and topographic survey of the island and of the principal structures of archaeological interest are realized. The activities of excavation have not always allowed a perfect synergy with the operations of survey. Nevertheless, the collected results have been integrated with paper maps compiled by draftsmen present on site during the phases of excavation. The activity of survey has been finalized to the cartographic rebuilding of the island and subsequently to the georeferencing of all the findings both through the direct survey and through the integration of the supplied images. An information system has been compiled (database and GIS), once seen the wide massive structure of data and the difficulties of interventions on field; it led to an easier management and cataloguing of the operations of excavation and survey, as well as the accomplishment of an integrated archive of consultation and management of the archaeological, topographic, historical and documentary data.

This paper highlights the importance of using Remote Sensing and GIS for assisting the seismic risk assessment for historical town centres in Cyprus. The selected case study is the Paphos town centre including the archaeological area of Nea Paphos. The authors present their proposed methodology for inventory collection, which is based on the integrated use of aerial photos and satellite imagery and the application of digitisation process. A 3D representation of the area using the heights of the buildings and the orthophotos was produced in the ArcGIS software for a more realistic result. The information produced in this pilot project will be used for the seismic risk assessment of the case-study area.

Cultural Heritage Sites are in danger of being destroyed due to several factors, such as earthquakes, uncontrolled urbanization and air pollution. The latest, whether it is from industrial, transport or domestic sources, can cause significant degradation and corrosion of cultural monuments. The use of satellite images for monitoring air pollution in different areas has received considerable attention and several related techniques have already been developed. In this study, such techniques are extended to examine air pollution monitoring in areas located in the vicinity of cultural heritage sites in Cyprus. Sun-photometers and Lidar have been used to support the results. The authors incorporate also 3D documentation using a laser scanner for monitoring changes over time. The available technologies and methodologies for digital recording of heritage sites and objects are really promising and the whole heritage community is trying to adopt these approaches for quick, effective, detailed and straightforward 3D reproduction.