Multi-Sensory Virtual Environments for Investigating the Past

[EN] A human depends on all five senses: visuals, audio, smell, taste and touch to perceive an environment. It is not only the individual senses, but also their interaction that plays a key role in enabling us to understand the world around us. Virtual archaeology is being increasingly used to investigate the past. Failure to consider all senses in these reconstructions runs the very real danger of misrepresenting ancient environments and how they may have been perceived by our ancestors. This paper describes Real Virtuality: true high-fidelity multi-sensory virtual environments, and shows how such an approach may give historians a more valid means of considering the past.[ES] Los seres humanos dependemos de los cinco sentidos: vista, oído, olfato, gusto y tacto para percibir el medio ambiente. Estos sentidos y la interacción que se produce entre ellos es lo que desempeña un papel clave en la comprensión del mundo que nos rodea. La Arqueología virtual cada vez se utiliza más para investigar el pasado. Por ello si no tomamos en consideración todos los sentidos a la hora de realizar reconstrucciones virtuales corremos el peligro real de tergiversar los entornos antiguos y la forma en la que estos entornos pudieron haber sido percibidos por nuestros antepasados. Este artículo describe la Virtualidad Real: entornos virtuales multi-sensoriales de gran fidelidad, y muestra cómo este enfoque puede proporcionar a los historiadores un medio más válido para estudiar el pasado.Chalmers, A.; Zányi, E. (2010). Multi-Sensory Virtual Environments for Investigating the Past. Virtual Archaeology Review. 1(1):13-16. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2010.4750OJS131611AGGLETON, J., AND WASKETT, L. (1999): "The ability of odours to serve as state-dependent cues for real-world memories: Can Viking smells aid the recall of Viking experiences? 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In Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology, and Cultural Heritage VAST 2001, 9-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/584993.584995MILLER P., AND RICHARDS J. (1994): "The good, the bad and the downright misleading: archaeological adoption of computer visualization." Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, 19-22.PEERS G. (2004): Sacred shock: Framing visual experience in Byzantium, Pennsylvania State University Press.ROBSON BROWN K., CHALMERS A., SAIGOL T., GREEN C. AND D'ERRICO F. (2001): "An automated laser scan survey of the Upper Palaeolithic rock shelter of Cap Blanc." Journal of Archaeological Science, 28, 283-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2000.0574SADDIK, A. (2007): "The potential of haptic technologies." In IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 10, 31, 10-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MIM.2007.339540SUNDSTEDT V., CHALMERS A. AND MARTINEZ P. (2004): "High Fidelity Reconstruction of the Ancient Egyptian Temple of Kalabsha." In AFRIGRAPH 2004, ACM SIGGRAPH, November.WRIGHT G. (1972): Kalabsha: The preserving of the temple. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin, 1972.ZÁNYI E., CHRYSANTHOU Y., BASHFORD-ROGERS T., AND CHALMERS A. (2007a): "High dynamic Range Display of Authentically Illuminated Byzantine Art from Cyprus". In Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology, and Cultural Heritage, VAST2007.ZÁNYI E., SCHROER C., MUDGE M. AND CHALMERS A. (2007b): "Light and Byzantine Glass Tesserae", EVA London: Electronic Information, the Visual Arts and Beyond, Londo

O Observatório Astronómico da Escola Politécnica : modelos virtuais para a sua preservação

O último observatório de ensino de interesse histórico em Portugal, que data do final do século XIX, é um dos edifícios mais carismáticos dos Museus da Universidade de Lisboa. Após um século de uso intensivo, o Observatório Astronómico da Escola Politécnica necessita de obras estruturais antes de ser devolvido integralmente à fruição pública. Recentemente, um grupo de estudantes desta Universidade foi envolvido na construção de modelos 3D virtuais para recriar o edifício do Observatório e alguns objetos das suas coleções. A qualidade dos modelos potencia a sua utilização como instrumento de divulgação de uma peça relevante do património histórico-científico da Universidade de Lisboa. Este artigo descreve as várias abordagens adoptadas e compara-as entre si.The Astronomical Observatory of the Lisbon Polytechnic School is the last teaching observatory of historical interest in Portugal. Created in the late nineteenth century, it survives intact in its original design. Given its singularity in the context of scientific heritage, the quality and beauty of its architecture, as well as its privileged location in the Botanical Garden, the Observatory has the potential to become the Museum’s focal point for the promotion of astronomy and its history. After 100 years of intense use, however, the Observatory is highly degraded and needs structural restoration before it can be fully returned to public fruition. Recently, three professors of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon decided to involve a group of students in the construction of virtual 3D models to recreate the Observatory building and collections. This article describes the methods used to produce the models and presents a comparison between them

The Contribution of ‘Total Environment’ Reconstructions in Interpreting Ancient Greek Experience of Ritual Spaces

The temple of Epikourean Apollo in Bassae has long been suspected to have been constructed with astronomical considerations, aimed at influencing ancient religious experience. The study presented here involves the use of Virtual Reality software to reconstruct the temple in its original position and orientation, combined with an accurate reconstruction of the sun’s position during the Classical period. The aim is to test the hypothesis of deliberate solar considerations associated with the temple’s east entrance. The reconstruction also discusses the application of Virtual Reality Models (VRM) and their potential impact on understanding ancient spatial movement and memory, emotionality and cognition. In addition, it explores the possibility of ancient natural light manipulation in enhancing experience of religious architecture. This paper not only presents the first VRM of Apollo’s temple, but also a model with an accurate reconstruction of the sun’s position at specific moments in the year. The importance of such reconstructions in understanding religious experience is exemplified. A great deal is revealed about the proposed solar effect in relation to human observation, and the connotations of such an effect in specific religious contexts. This study could facilitate discussion on the contribution of digital technology in understanding ancient Greek ritual experience

Digital reintegration of distributed mural paintings at different architectural phases: the case of St. Quirze de Pedret

Sant Quirze de Pedret is a Romanesque church located in Cercs (Catalonia, Spain) at the foothills of the Pyrenees. Its walls harbored one of the most important examples of mural paintings in Catalan Romanesque Art. However, in two different campaigns (in 1921 and 1937) the paintings were removed using the strappo technique and transferred to museums for safekeeping. This detachment protected the paintings from being sold in the art market, but at the price of breaking the integrity of the monument. Nowadays, the paintings are exhibited in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya - MNAC (Barcelona, Catalonia) and the Museu Diocesà i Comarcal de Solsona - MDCS (Solsona, Catalonia). Some fragments of the paintings are still on the walls of the church. In this work, we present the methodology to digitally reconstruct the church building at its different phases and group the dispersed paintings in a single virtual church, commissioned by the MDCS. We have combined 3D reconstruction (LIDAR and photogrammetric using portable artificial illumination) and modeling techniques (including texture transfer between different shapes) to recover the integrity of the monument in a single 3D virtual model. Furthermore, we have reconstructed the church building at different significant historical moments and placed actual paintings on its virtual walls, based on archaeological knowledge. This set of 3D models allows experts and visitors to better understand the monument as a whole, the relations between the different paintings, and its evolution over time.The project has been promoted by the Museu Diocesà i Comarcal de Solsona (special thanks are due to Carles Freixes and Lídia Fàbregas), co-financed by "La Caixa" Foundation and the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Likewise, the work presented here counted with the support of MEIC (Spanish Government) project 3D4LIFE (TIN-2017-88515-C2), PRECA II of the Universitat de Barcelona (HAR2017-84451-P) and EHEM (JPICH0127 Conservation, Protection and Use, PCI2020-111979). The high-resolution photographs of the paintings are by Gaetano Alfano (Università degli Studi della Tuscia).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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

Modelação a partir de dados laser para reconstituição arquitetural: Observatório Astronómico da Escola Politécnica

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado em Engenharia Geográfica, apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2013Situado no jardim botânico da Universidade de Lisboa, o Observatório Astronómico da Escola Politécnica é o único observatório astronómico de ensino em Portugal. O observatório possui uma grande importância histórica, tendo sido nele criado o curso de Engenharia Geográfica que formou grande parte dos engenheiros geógrafos nacionais. A fundação do observatório decorreu em 1875, tendo sido reconstruído em 1898 com uma estrutura mais sustentável. O observatório funcionou como instituição de ensino e investigação até 2002, ano em que foi desativado devido a danos estruturais. Atualmente, o edifício encontra-se encerrado e coberto por painéis de proteção, aguardando a angariação de verbas para a sua recuperação. O edifício do Observatório Astronómico possui uma planta irregular com formas arquitetónicas ímpares, possuindo alguns pormenores decorativos de grande relevo histórico. O seu interior destaca-se pela sala da Meridiana outrora utilizada para observações através de um círculo meridiano colocado no centro da sala. De modo a criar-se um modelo tridimensional do edifício foi feito um levantamento LiDAR do exterior do observatório, bem como do interior de uma das principais salas do edifício numa altura em que observatório estava acessível. Os dados originários do levantamento foram processados e foi modelada toda a superfície exterior do edifício, assim como a sala da Meridiana e seus constituintes. Tirando partido da densidade de pontos do sistema LiDAR foi realizada uma modelação detalhada de todas as superfícies do observatório. Através de técnicas fotogramétricas foram ainda modelados dois instrumentos outrora colocados e utilizados no observatório. A partir de fotografias e utilizando a tecnologia de estrutura a partir do movimento (SFM), foi gerada uma nuvem de pontos relativamente a estes instrumentos. O modelo 3D de todo o observatório gerado correspondeu às espectativas, retratando pormenorizadamente o edifício através da modelação de todos os pormenores visíveis na nuvem de dados. A este modelo foram aplicadas texturas fotográficas de modo a dar-lhe uma aparência ainda mais real.Settled at the botanical garden of Lisbon University, the Polytechnic’s Observatory emerges as the only instructional astronomic observatory in Portugal. Founded in 1875 and being the genesis place of the Geographic Engineering apprenticeship in national territory, the observatory holds great historical relevance, owning credit for the graduation of most geographer engineers in the country. Reconstructed in 1898, aiming for structural sustainability reinforcement, the observatory worked as a teaching and investigation institution until 2002, when its facilities were disabled due to structural damages. The building is currently sealed and its recovery pending on financial issues. This irregularly designed historical building possesses unique architectural forms, specially its ornamental details. Meanwhile in its interior, the Meridian Room, once used for observations through a Meridian Circle place at its center, is the highlight. In order to generate a tridimensional model of the building, it was engaged a LiDAR gathering of the observatory’s exterior, as well as of the Meridian Room. The collected data was processed, enabling an accurate modeling of both the external surface of the building and the Meridian Room, including its components, profiting on the highly detailed data provided as a LiDAR output. Through photogrammetric techniques, there were also modeled two scientific instruments once located at the observatory. In this case, the generation of the dot data cloud used photographs as the input, via Structure from Motion (SFM). The 3D-Model of the observatory matched the expectations, portraying the building in high detail, through the modeling of each feature emerging from the dot data cloud. To the output of the model were applied photographic textures, in order to obtain an even more realistic final appearance

Colour and light in the seventeenth-century churches of Arbanassi, Bulgaria

This thesis evaluates the use of colour and light in four seventeenth-century church interiors in Arbanassi, Bulgaria. The aim is to elucidate the appearance of the wall paintings in these churches in the context of the specific use of colour and in the lighting conditions pertaining when they were painted. The investigation both uses existing methods and also creates new scientifically-based ones to address questions concerning the extent to which colour and light were intentionally employed in ways evidenced by common patterns. The underlying hypothesis is that the decoration can be asserted as an embodiment of the ways colour and light were employed in Eastern Church decoration at that period in the Bulgarian province of the Ottoman Empire. In all the churches examined the artists used palettes restricted to a small but constant number of hues. I discuss how they used light and colour contrast to manipulate the appearance of the images. As present the interiors are lit by electric light. The investigation into the interior lighting reveals that the natural lighting is of an even but low intensity, allowing the artificial lighting to dominate. I devised a methodology to assess the effect of the original interior illumination on the appearance of the naves in the con-text of Professor Chalmers and others in the computer reconstruction of historic sites under their original illumination. By departing from conventional art-historical assessments, without merely accumulating technical data, my research challenges previously accepted presumptions and offers a means of revealing the optical complexity of the interiors. While this provides increased knowledge and understanding of the visual practices employed by the artists, the wider significance of this thesis lies in the way it bridges the existing division between science and the humanities and in its development of new methods for art historical research