17. ISEE: Retrieve Information in Cultural Heritage Navigating in 3D Environment

Cultural Heritage is an interdisciplinary field and the information is gained from different sources and in varying formats. Moreover, the objects often have a strong 3D component, and cannot be easily represented with conventional data management frameworks like Geographic Information System (GIS). The use of a 3D framework may allow a closer adherence to the real world, as it respects the spatial relationships among various parts. Starting from these important points, we developed a method called ISEE (“I see”). This method allows spatial information to be accessed through the interactive navigation of a synthetic 3D model, reproducing the main features of a corresponding real environment. The user can get the pieces of information more relevant where he/she is looking at it. The system can be used with standard Web browsers, allowing access to a wider audience without any special requirements as reported by (Pecchioli L, Mohamed F, Carrozzino M, Leitner H, Accessing information through a 3D interactive environment. In: Proceedings of ICHIM07 digital cultural and heritage, Toronto, 2007. http://www.archimuse.com/ichim07/papers/pecchioli/pecchioli.html). The system has been applied to selected case studies related both to outdoor and indoor environments, proving potentially to be also an interesting prototype as a smart guide.