Reconstructing Roman Archaeological Sites: Theory and Practice —The Case of Conimbriga

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital Transformation of Preservation and Restoration of Ukraine's Cultural Heritage

Digital transformation of the preservation and restoration of Ukraine's cultural heritage plays a key role in the national and patriotic education of the people and in ensuring the country's territorial integrity. As a result of the war in Ukraine, a significant number of cultural sites were damaged and destroyed. Therefore, there is a need for their digital registration and further restoration through the use of digital technologies. The article aims to study the principles of digital transformation and possible improvement of the quality of the cultural level in Ukraine and to define the Ukrainian idea through the dissemination of culture, in particular, through educational activities. Given the current trends in the penetration of digital technologies into all spheres of life, their use in the cultural sphere can help boost morale and serve as a tool to combat Russia's expansive cultural rhetoric. The article focuses on the peculiarities of digital transformation, the main means of its implementation, and possible further development. The results of the study indicate the need to use digital technologies as a tool for reconstruction and a means of information protection of the most important cultural sites. The article draws attention to the public administration policy and the problems of financing cultural monuments and objects as the main means for possible further digital transformation. The findings of the study may be useful for further analytical research on the use and implementation of digital transformation of cultural heritage in Ukraine

La recreación de una escena urbana medieval con personajes inteligentes: pasos para crear el escenario completo

[EN] From historical advice to 3D modeling and programming, the process of reconstructing cultural heritage sites populated with virtual inhabitants is lengthy and expensive, and it requires a large set of skills and tools. These constraints make it increasingly difficult, however not unattainable, for small archaeological sites to build their own simulations. In this article, we describe our attempt to minimize this scenario. We describe a framework that makes use of free tools or campus licenses and integrates the curricular work of students in academia. We present the details of methods and tools used in the pipeline of the construction of the virtual simulation of the medieval village of Mértola in the south of Portugal. We report on: a) the development of a lightweight model of the village, including houses and terrain, and b) its integration in a game engine in order to c) include a virtual population of autonomous inhabitants in a simulation running in real-time.[ES] El proceso de reconstrucción en 3D de lugareshistóricospoblados con habitantes virtuales es complejo, y requiere de un gran conjunto de habilidades y herramientas. Estos procesos incluyen elasesoramiento histórico, el modelado 3D, ola programación y estas limitaciones hacen que sea muy difícil construir sus propias simulacionesenpequeños equipos arqueológicos. En este artículo, describimos nuestro intento de minimizar este escenario. Se describe cómo integramos el trabajo curricular de los estudiantes en la academia, haciendouso de herramientas libres olicencias de campus. Se presentan los detalles de los métodos y de las herramientas utilizadas en el processo de construcción de la simulación virtual del pueblo medieval de Mértola, en el sur de Portugal. Se presenta: a)el desarrollo de los modelos ligeros 3D en el pueblo, incluyendo las habitaciones y el terreno, yb) su integración en unmotor de juego con el fin de c)incluir la población virtual de habitantes autónomos, en una simulación que pueda ser ejecutadaen tiempo real.This project was funded by the Horizon 2020: EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 655226 (fellowship to Dr. Rui Filipe Antunes). We knowledge the support of BioISI R&D unit (UID/MULTI/04046/2013), Portugal, the information provided by the team of Campo Arqueológico de Mértola and the students that produced the models and scenarios. Proofreading by Piki Productions.Cláudio, AP.; Carmo, MB.; De Carvalho, AA.; Xavier, W.; Antunes, RF. (2017). Recreating a medieval urban scene with virtual intelligent characters: steps to create the complete scenario. Virtual Archaeology Review. 8(17):31-41. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2017.6557SWORD314181

PRESERVING THE VERNACULAR POSTINDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE: BIG DATA GEOSPATIAL APPROACHES TO HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AND INTERPRETATION

Redundant historical industrial sites, or postindustrial landscapes, face numerous preservation challenges. Functionally obsolete, and often derelict and decaying, these cultural landscapes often retain only a fraction of their original infrastructure. With their historical interconnections made indistinct by their physical separation and obscured by the passage of time, surviving remnants are isolated and disjunct, confounding both their legibility and their consideration for formal historic preservation. Nevertheless, they persist. This dissertation presents a theoretical understanding of the nature of postindustrial landscape preservation, and argues that the material persistence of its historical constituents is the result of previously overlooked processes of informal material conservation, here termed vernacular preservation. Further, this dissertation examines ways that heritage professionals can manage and interpret these vast, complex, and shattered landscapes, using 21st-century digital and spatial tools. Confronted by ongoing depopulation and divestment, and constrained by limited financial capacity to reverse the trend of blight and property loss, communities and individuals concerned with the preservation of vernacular postindustrial landscapes face many unique management and interpretation challenges. The successful heritagization of the postindustrial landscape depends on its comprehension, and communication, as a historically complex network of systems, and I argue that utilizing advanced digital and spatial tool such as historical GIS and procedural modeling can aid communities and heritage professionals in managing, preserving, and interpreting these landscapes. This dissertation presents heritage management and interpretation strategies that emphasize the historical, but now largely missing, spatial and temporal contexts of today’s postindustrial landscape in Michigan’s Copper Country. A series of case studies illustrates the demonstrated and potential value of using a big-data, longitudinally-linked digital infrastructure, or Historical GIS (HGIS), known as the Copper Country Historical Spatial Data Infrastructure (CC-HSDI), for heritage management and interpretation. These studies support the public education and conservation goals of the communities in this nationally-significant mining region through providing accessible, engaging, and meaningful historical spatiotemporal context, and by helping to promote and encourage the ongoing management and preservation of this ever-evolving postindustrial landscape

Recreating a medieval urban scene with virtual intelligent characters: steps to create the complete scenario

From historical advice to 3D modeling and programming, the process of reconstructing cultural heritage sites populated with virtual inhabitants is lengthy and expensive, and it requires a large set of skills and tools. These constraints make it increasingly difficult, however not unattainable, for small archaeological sites to build their own simulations. In this article, we describe our attempt to minimize this scenario. We describe a framework that makes use of free tools or campus licenses and integrates the curricular work of students in academia. We present the details of methods and tools used in the pipeline of the construction of the virtual simulation of the medieval village of Mértola in the south of Portugal. We report on: a) the development of a lightweight model of the village, including houses and terrain, and b) its integration in a game engine in order to c) include a virtual population of autonomous inhabitants in a simulation running in real-time

Application of information and communication technology in cultural heritage as a development resource: the example of the project Secession route Osijek-Subotica

U tekstu se polazi od različitih pristupa koji informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT) percipiraju neizostavnim općeprihvaćenim trendom u poslovanju, a koji unose i dinamične promjene u suvremenu tržišno-kulturnu turističku kompeticiju. Radi zornijeg predočavanja koncepta kulturne baštine kao tržišnog proizvoda, raspravit će se ključni elementi kulturno-turističke industrije, kao i neposredni utjecaj tehnološke revolucije na implementaciju novih operativnih modusa unutar turističkog sektora prilagođenih novoj, brzoj i fleksibilnoj generaciji potrošača. Istaknut će se aspekti IKT-a u kulturnoj baštini kao razvojnog resursa sa specifičnim primjerom secesijske kulturne baštine kroz projekt S.O.S. Turistička ruta Secesija Osijek – Subotica. Projekt je sufinanciran iz Europskih fondova radi razvijanja i promicanja zajedničkoga kulturno-turističkog proizvoda temeljenog na secesiji. Prikazat će se važnost vizualnoga secesijskog identiteta kao dijela lokalnoga gospodarskog razvoja i pripadajuće primjene IKT-a u realizaciji projekta.The starting point of the text are different approaches that perceive ICT as an indispensable generally accepted trend in business, and which also introduce dynamic changes in the modern market-cultural tourist competition. In order to present more clearly the concept of cultural heritage as a marketable product, key elements of the cultural tourism industry will be discussed. The direct impact of the technological revolution on implementation of new operational modes adapted to new, fast and flexible generation of consumers within the sector of tourism will also be analysed. Aspects of ICT in cultural heritage as a development resource will be highlighted with a specific example of Art Nouveau cultural heritage through the S.O.S. Secession Tourist route Osijek - Subotica. The project is co-financed by European funds with the aim of developing and promoting a common cultural and tourist product based on secession. The importance of visual Art Nouveau identity as an integral part of local economic development and the associated application of ICT in project implementation will be presented

Conservación digital del patrimonio cultural y científico: participación de estudiantes universitarios para concienciarles de su importanica

[EN] Cultural heritage is a relevant issue in contemporary society. While its preservation is a challenge, its dissemination, can contribute for an economic balance between costs and benefits. Scientific heritage can be considered as a special domain of cultural heritage, not yet sought by the mass tourism, but worth being preserved as the roots of today’s knowledge. Considering that university students of engineering and computer science traditionally do not address cultural or scientific heritage issues in their syllabus, and that they constitute a layer of young citizens that will come to be influential in the future of society, an effort was undertaken to focus on this theme in disciplines of different courses, allying the learning of technical skills with the natural interest of younger people for 3D and animation for the profit of heritage. The goal was to raise the awareness of this particular group to the importance of maintaining heritage issues, in particular, in a virtual way, both for documentation and for divulgating their existence. Raising funds for buildings’ restoration, attracting the public to visit buildings and collections that are outside the usual tourism routes, contributing to revenue generation, or allowing virtual visits of not accessible issues, complementing physical visits on site, were the general aims of the proposed projects. A survey was undertaken under the participating students to evaluate how the projects influenced their attitude towards heritage. The obtained feedback was very positive: 76% agreed that the project alerted them for the importance of preserving historical and cultural heritage, while 72% considered it was interesting that the topic of digital cultural heritage was used for the assessments of the disciplines.[ES] El patrimonio cultural es un tema relevante en la sociedad contemporánea. Mientras que su conservación es un reto, su difusión puede contribuir a un equilibrio económico entre costes y beneficios. El patrimonio científico puede ser considerado como un dominio especial del patrimonio cultural, y aunque todavía no es buscado por el turismo de masas, vale la pena ser conservado. Teniendo en cuenta que los estudiantes universitarios de ingeniería e informática tradicionalmente no abordan cuestiones de patrimonio cultural o científico en su plan de estudios, y que estos constituyen un grupo de ciudadanos jóvenes que serán influyentes en el futuro de la sociedad, se ha realizado un esfuerzo para centrarse en este tema en las disciplinas de diferentes cursos, uniéndose el aprendizaje de habilidades técnicas con el interés natural de las personas más jóvenes hacia el3D y la animación para el beneficio del patrimonio. El objetivo era aumentar la conciencia de este grupo en particular en la importancia de mantener los temas de patrimonio. La recaudación de fondos para la restauración de edificios, atraer al público a visitar los edificios y colecciones que se encuentran fuera de las rutas turísticas habituales, contribuyendo a la generación de ingresos, o permitir visitas virtuales de cuestiones que no son accesibles, eran los objetivos generales de los proyectos propuestos. Se llevóa cabo una encuesta entre los estudiantes que desarrollaron estos proyectos para evaluar si estos tenían una influencia positiva en su actitud hacia el patrimonio. La información obtenida fue muy positiva: 76% están de acuerdo en que el proyecto les alertó de la importancia de la conservación del patrimonio histórico y cultural,mientras que el 72% consideró que sería interesante que se utilizara el tema del patrimonio cultural digital enlas evaluaciones de las disciplinas.We acknowledge the students Pedro Lopes, Fernando Berenguer, Bogdan Rosu, Robin Burgess, Vitor Pinto, Marine Granger, Inês Gomes, Jorge Gomes, Rui Flores, João Moreira for their work in the models presented in this paper. The projects were partially supported by the R&D Unit BioISI, UID/MULTI/04046/2013 financed through FCT/MCTES/ PIDDAC, by the project PTDC/EMSENE/4525/2014 from FCT, Portugal, and by NEXUS, Spain.Redweik, P.; Cláudio, AP.; Carmo, MB.; Naranjo, JM.; Sanjosé, JJ. (2017). Digital preservation of cultural and scientific heritage: involving university students to raise awareness of its importance. Virtual Archaeology Review. 8(16):22-34. doi:10.4995/var.2017.4629.SWORD223481

Reconstrução digital de espaços históricos: o caso de estudo de Mértola virtual

Tese de mestrado, Informática, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2016O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi a reconstrução digital de espaços urbanos históricos, um tema que se insere numa temática mais alargada, a herança cultural digital. Este trabalho integra-se num projeto de investigação mais amplo que envolve a simulação de multidões em cenários urbanos que recriam épocas históricas. Pretende-se que estas simulações suportem a interação do utilizador em tempo real e que possam tirar partido de algoritmos de Inteligência Artificial, motivo pelo qual foi escolhida uma plataforma usada para o desenvolvimento de video-jogos, o Unity 3D. Neste trabalho fez-se, numa primeira fase, um levantamento do estado da arte sobre as diferentes técnicas de reconstrução tridimensional, bem como, sobre trabalhos realizados no âmbito da recriação de espaços urbanos virtuais em contexto históricos incluindo ou não a integração de humanos virtuais inteligentes. Tendo sempre presentes duas preocupações, o baixo custo que se desejava para a solução e a necessidade de obter um modelo que suporte interação em tempo real, concebeu-se um pipeline para aplicar à reconstrução digital de espaços urbanos históricos. O pipeline combina várias ferramentas gratuitas ou com licenças académicas e recorre à interoperabilidade de dados 3D para criar um cenário virtual. Assim, as ferramentas do pipeline proposto são, para cada fase, as seguintes: ArcGIS para a aquisição e processamento de informação geográfica e do relevo, com a finalidade de obter um modelo virtual preciso do terreno; AutoCAD, Blender e 3DS Max para a modelação tridimensional manual de estruturas arquitetónicas e o CityEngine para modelação procedimental e integração do cenário tridimensional completo. A utilização do CityEngine permite a geração semi-automatizada de estruturas 3D através de ficheiros de regras e a possibilidade de inserção no cenário de uma vasta diversidade de modelos tridimensionais de árvores disponíveis numa biblioteca e finalmente a sua exportação para a plataforma Unity 3D. Ao longo de todo o processo tentou-se limitar o número de polígonos dos modelos, tentando manter a sua qualidade. O pipeline foi aplicado a um caso de estudo específico: a construção do ambiente urbano virtual da vila de Mértola na época de ocupação Islâmica. Este modelo foi construído fundamentalmente com base em informação fornecida por arqueólogos do Campo Arqueológico de Mértola. Finalmente, procedemos a um primeiro teste que prova a validade do pipeline proposto e do modelo produzido. O ambiente virtual construído no CityEngine foi exportado para o Unity 3D e incluiu-se um avatar no cenário. Este avatar navega no cenário de acordo com a interação do utilizador em tempo real, estando activo o mecanismo de deteção de colisões fornecido pelo motor de Física do Unity 3D. Adicionalmente, um segundo teste foi realizado por outros elementos da nossa equipa de investigação que obtiveram resposta do sistema em tempo real ao testar o cenário com grupos de personagens virtuais autónomas cujo comportamento se baseia na execuação de scripts de Inteligência Artificial.The main objective of this work was the digital reconstruction of historical urban spaces, a theme that is part of a broader subject: digital cultural heritage. This work is part of a research project involving the simulation of crowds in urban settings that recreate historical epochs. These simulations should support user interaction in real time and can make use of Artificial Intelligence algorithms. Hence, it was chosen a platform used for developing video games, Unity 3D. In this work we did, as a first step, a survey of the state of the art concerning different three-dimensional reconstruction techniques, as well as, projects carried out in the framework of virtual recreation of urban spaces in historical contexts with or without intelligent virtual characters. Two main concerns were always present: the low cost of the solution and the need to obtain a model that supports real time interaction. We conceived a pipeline, combining several free tools or with academic subscriptions, with data interoperability between them, to create the virtual scenario. The proposed pipeline resorts to the following tools: ArcGIS for the acquisition and processing of geographical information and the elevation of the terrain of our area of interest; AutoCAD, 3DS Max and Blender for 3D manual modeling of architectural elements and the CityEngine for procedural modelling and integration of the whole scene in a format that can be imported by Unity 3D. CityEngine includes a library with a wide diversity of three-dimensional models of trees that can be included in the scenario. Throughout the whole process we tried to limit the number of polygons of the models without sacrifying their quality. The proposed solution was applied to generate a specific virtual urban scene: the village of Mértola during the Islamic occupation. We built the 3D models based mainly on information provided by the archaeologists of Campo Arqueológico de Mértola. By the end, we performed a first test that proves the valitidy of the proposed pipeline and of the produced model: the virtual environment produced in CityEngine was exported to the Unity 3D environment and an avatar was included in it. This avatar navigates in the 3D scene according to the user interaction performed in real time, while the collision detection mechanism provided by the Unity 3D physics engine is active. Moreover, a second test was performed by other elements of our research team. They also obtained real time while testing the scenario with groups of autonomous virtual characters running Artificial Intelligence scripts

Políticas de Copyright de Publicações Científicas em Repositórios Institucionais: O Caso do INESC TEC

A progressiva transformação das práticas científicas, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento das novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), têm possibilitado aumentar o acesso à informação, caminhando gradualmente para uma abertura do ciclo de pesquisa. Isto permitirá resolver a longo prazo uma adversidade que se tem colocado aos investigadores, que passa pela existência de barreiras que limitam as condições de acesso, sejam estas geográficas ou financeiras. Apesar da produção científica ser dominada, maioritariamente, por grandes editoras comerciais, estando sujeita às regras por estas impostas, o Movimento do Acesso Aberto cuja primeira declaração pública, a Declaração de Budapeste (BOAI), é de 2002, vem propor alterações significativas que beneficiam os autores e os leitores. Este Movimento vem a ganhar importância em Portugal desde 2003, com a constituição do primeiro repositório institucional a nível nacional. Os repositórios institucionais surgiram como uma ferramenta de divulgação da produção científica de uma instituição, com o intuito de permitir abrir aos resultados da investigação, quer antes da publicação e do próprio processo de arbitragem (preprint), quer depois (postprint), e, consequentemente, aumentar a visibilidade do trabalho desenvolvido por um investigador e a respetiva instituição. O estudo apresentado, que passou por uma análise das políticas de copyright das publicações científicas mais relevantes do INESC TEC, permitiu não só perceber que as editoras adotam cada vez mais políticas que possibilitam o auto-arquivo das publicações em repositórios institucionais, como também que existe todo um trabalho de sensibilização a percorrer, não só para os investigadores, como para a instituição e toda a sociedade. A produção de um conjunto de recomendações, que passam pela implementação de uma política institucional que incentive o auto-arquivo das publicações desenvolvidas no âmbito institucional no repositório, serve como mote para uma maior valorização da produção científica do INESC TEC.The progressive transformation of scientific practices, driven by the development of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which made it possible to increase access to information, gradually moving towards an opening of the research cycle. This opening makes it possible to resolve, in the long term, the adversity that has been placed on researchers, which involves the existence of barriers that limit access conditions, whether geographical or financial. Although large commercial publishers predominantly dominate scientific production and subject it to the rules imposed by them, the Open Access movement whose first public declaration, the Budapest Declaration (BOAI), was in 2002, proposes significant changes that benefit the authors and the readers. This Movement has gained importance in Portugal since 2003, with the constitution of the first institutional repository at the national level. Institutional repositories have emerged as a tool for disseminating the scientific production of an institution to open the results of the research, both before publication and the preprint process and postprint, increase the visibility of work done by an investigator and his or her institution. The present study, which underwent an analysis of the copyright policies of INESC TEC most relevant scientific publications, allowed not only to realize that publishers are increasingly adopting policies that make it possible to self-archive publications in institutional repositories, all the work of raising awareness, not only for researchers but also for the institution and the whole society. The production of a set of recommendations, which go through the implementation of an institutional policy that encourages the self-archiving of the publications developed in the institutional scope in the repository, serves as a motto for a greater appreciation of the scientific production of INESC TEC

Reconstruction and generation of virtual heritage sites

Traditionally procedural modelling techniques are commonly used to generate new structures and are presently established in several areas such as video games and computer animated movies. However they may also be used in heritage applications to efficiently produce models of non-existing worlds for which there is some kind of knowledge (e.g. floor plans, photographs) to support the reconstruction of realistic environments. Similarly they may also be used to support the generation of distinct possibilities that allow experts to draw some conclusions or conceive different hypotheses about lost worlds. The present paper shows the benefits and constraints that may arise from the use of such techniques in virtual heritage applications. Furthermore, a whole method is proposed, for the reconstruction and generation of virtual heritage traversable house models, provided through the means of a grammar, demonstrated with the reconstruction and generation of several Roman houses from the heritage site of Conimbriga, Portugal