Personalization in cultural heritage: the road travelled and the one ahead

Over the last 20 years, cultural heritage has been a favored domain for personalization research. For years, researchers have experimented with the cutting edge technology of the day; now, with the convergence of internet and wireless technology, and the increasing adoption of the Web as a platform for the publication of information, the visitor is able to exploit cultural heritage material before, during and after the visit, having different goals and requirements in each phase. However, cultural heritage sites have a huge amount of information to present, which must be filtered and personalized in order to enable the individual user to easily access it. Personalization of cultural heritage information requires a system that is able to model the user (e.g., interest, knowledge and other personal characteristics), as well as contextual aspects, select the most appropriate content, and deliver it in the most suitable way. It should be noted that achieving this result is extremely challenging in the case of first-time users, such as tourists who visit a cultural heritage site for the first time (and maybe the only time in their life). In addition, as tourism is a social activity, adapting to the individual is not enough because groups and communities have to be modeled and supported as well, taking into account their mutual interests, previous mutual experience, and requirements. How to model and represent the user(s) and the context of the visit and how to reason with regard to the information that is available are the challenges faced by researchers in personalization of cultural heritage. Notwithstanding the effort invested so far, a definite solution is far from being reached, mainly because new technology and new aspects of personalization are constantly being introduced. This article surveys the research in this area. Starting from the earlier systems, which presented cultural heritage information in kiosks, it summarizes the evolution of personalization techniques in museum web sites, virtual collections and mobile guides, until recent extension of cultural heritage toward the semantic and social web. The paper concludes with current challenges and points out areas where future research is needed

Toward a model of computational attention based on expressive behavior: applications to cultural heritage scenarios

Our project goals consisted in the development of attention-based analysis of human expressive behavior and the implementation of real-time algorithm in EyesWeb XMI in order to improve naturalness of human-computer interaction and context-based monitoring of human behavior. To this aim, perceptual-model that mimic human attentional processes was developed for expressivity analysis and modeled by entropy. Museum scenarios were selected as an ecological test-bed to elaborate three experiments that focus on visitor profiling and visitors flow regulation

Digital Construction of Traditional Baruk in Sarawak, Malaysia

The traditional Baruk in Sarawak has gone through some architectural changes in terms of its material and function due to the urban modernization and safety concern. Therefore, the research aims to construct the Three-Dimensional (3D) model of the building using digital close-range photogrammetry. The exploratory study can be categorized into four phases consist of Site Selection; Data Acquisition; Data Processing; and 3D Modelling. The 3D model generated from the photogrammetry software presents the result of the dense point clouds. The study could give fundamental guidelines on using a mobile device in digital close-range photogrammetry techniques. Keywords: Digital construction; traditional architecture, digital close-range photogrammetry, heritage documentation. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i14.224

Imaging heritage and other metal surfaces with X-ray excited optical microscopy

Heritage tourism represents a significant source of income for the European Union. Metals are vital to this, but corrode and degrade over time unless curative actions are taken. Conservators require non-destructive analysis techniques and specific instrumentations for the study and analysis of ancient objects that comprise our tangible cultural heritage. XEOM 1, a novel X-ray-excited optical microscopy system, is presented as a new addition to the conservator’s toolbox. XEOM 1 allows non-destructive chemical imaging of heritage metal surfaces (approximately top 200 nm) in air and controlled atmosphere. XEOM exploits the effect in which X-ray absorption results in the emission of electromagnetic radiation in the visible and near-visible bands, a phenomenon known as X-ray-excited optical luminescence (XEOL). The work presented in the thesis comprises ground work for imaging of copper and copper corrosion products on assessment samples of varying patination; a multimethod analysis of heritage artefacts retrieved from King Henry VIII's flagship: the 'Mary Rose' and the study for an alternative excitation source for use of XEOM 1 outside the synchrotron. The research and development of X-ray-excited optical microscopy was supplemented with the research regarding the copper corrosion of frameless coppr and copper- gold intrauterine devices (IUDs)

Changing Trains at Wigan: Digital Preservation and the Future of Scholarship

This paper examines the impact of the emerging digital landscape on long term access to material created in digital form and its use for research; it examines challenges, risks and expectations.

A web-based GIS as a management tool for rock art sites in the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.The importance of managing and conserving cultural heritage can not be overemphasised. It is this realisation that has prompted the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to declare identified sites of cultural importance as World Heritage Sites. The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (UDP) was declared such a site in 2000, with its natural properties and cultural heritage as the criteria for inscription. The cultural heritage centres on the vast quantity of rock art that is renowned for its quality and diversity of subject. It is an important consideration for future generations to have the opportunity to view and understand this rich history and culture. There are increasing human and natural impacts on this non-renewable resource and to minimise these impacts and thus ensure the longevity of the resource it is necessary to develop a multi faceted selection of management and conservation tools. This realisation led the Programme of Geornatics, University of KwaZulu-Natal to conceptualise a project to develop a web-based Geographical Information System (GIS) specifically aimed at assisting in the management and conservation of rock art sites for the Valley of Pools in the Cathedral Peak Conservation Area of the UDP. Data for the project was captured in the field using Global Positioning System (GPS), digital camera and video camera as well as conventional hardcopy documentation. Existing digital spatial data and descriptive data were also collected from relevant stakeholders and a commercial organization. A pilot spatial database was then developed using ArcGIS@9 and Microsoft Access@, and later tested using a set of integrated simulated queries reflective of routine questions that users may request. Upon obtaining satisfactory responses to the queries, the integrated database was migrated and authored in ArcIMS®9 where it was further tested, and subsequently access was given to selected external professionals, both nationally and internationally, from various backgrounds, for evaluation purposes. Feedback from this process was favourably obtained

Digital Technology and Cultural Policy

This paper reviews how digital technology, and the devices and broadband networks associated with it (the Internet, for short), can be expected to a ect the ways in which books, music, the visual arts, libraries and archived cultural heritage (cultural goods, for short) are produced, distributed and consumed. The paper has four parts. First, I place the growth of the Internet in historical and comparative perspective. I argue that the United States is presently engaged in a regulatory e ort similar in intent to those imposed on earlier communications revolutions. In this context, I outline the ways that the Internet can be expected to change how people produce and consume cultural goods. I distinguish between practices the technology makes possible and practices likely to become established as typical for the majority of people. Second, I discuss some of the new arenas for cultural policy thrown up by the Internet. I argue that, just as it has bound many kinds of cultural content into a single medium, the Internet has tied together a variety of regulatory issues and brought cultural policy into contact with areas of policy-making not normally associated with culture. Third, I focus on the relationship between creativity, consumption and copyright law. Fourth, I describe a number of key conflicts over the Internet's architecture and content. How these are resolved through policy choices will have important consequences for how we consume and experience cultural goods of all kinds in the future.