INTERACTIVE 3D LANDSCAPES ON LINE

The paper describes challenges identified while developing browser embedded 3D landscape rendering applications, our current approach and work-flow and how recent development in browser technologies could affect. All the data, even if processed by optimization and decimation tools, result in very huge databases that require paging, streaming and Level-of-Detail techniques to be implemented to allow remote web based real time fruition. Our approach has been to select an open source scene-graph based visual simulation library with sufficient performance and flexibility and adapt it to the web by providing a browser plug-in. Within the current Montegrotto VR Project, content produced with new pipelines has been integrated. The whole Montegrotto Town has been generated procedurally by CityEngine. We used this procedural approach, based on algorithms and procedures because it is particularly functional to create extensive and credible urban reconstructions. To create the archaeological sites we used optimized mesh acquired with laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques whereas to realize the 3D reconstructions of the main historical buildings we adopted computer-graphic software like blender and 3ds Max. At the final stage, semi-automatic tools have been developed and used up to prepare and clusterise 3D models and scene graph routes for web publishing. Vegetation generators have also been used with the goal of populating the virtual scene to enhance the user perceived realism during the navigation experience. After the description of 3D modelling and optimization techniques, the paper will focus and discuss its results and expectations

Lucus Feroniae and Tiber Valley Virtual Musem: from digital documentation and 3D reconstruction, up to virtual reality application, combining immersive visualization, cinematographic rules and natural interaction

The aim of the Virtual Museum of the Tiber Valley project is the creation of an integrated digital platform for the knowledge, valorisation and communication of the cultural landscape, the archaeological and naturalistic sites along the Tiber Valley, in the Sabina area, North of Rome. Virtual reality applications, multimedia contents, together with a web site, are under construction and they will be accessed inside the museums of the territory and in a central museum in Rome within 2014. The different stages of work cover the reconstruction of the ancient potential landscape and the creation of virtual models of some of the main archaeological sites. From the same dataset many elaborations and specific communicative formats accessible from multiple platforms will be realized. Among all, a spectacular installation of virtual reality located in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, in Rome, based on the use of gesture based interaction interfaces. Here the user can explore four different virtual scenarios where the landscape is represented in its interpretative and emotional dimensions. This paper will focus on the famous ancient Italic sanctuary of Lucus Feroniae that in Roman time has lost its greatness and is turning into a simple farming roman town. The site has been documented and represented in 3D through different technologies (topographical survey, UAV, photogrammetry and dense stereo marching techniques), and a 3D reconstruction in Tiberian and Trajan period has been realized starting form archaeological evidences and comparisons with similar contexts. After the survey, the 3D modelling process began. To achieve a reliable reconstruction of the whole archaeological site and its buildings several types of archeological and architectural data have been investigated and interpreted. Then, the hypothetical reconstruction was drawn up comparing historical and archeological survey, data coming from image-based modeling, comparative data, formal rules, construction techniques and roman modules. The VR installation introduces a novel approach in combining different media and languages: real time exploration, cinematographic paradigms, virtual set practices. The reconstructed site is a stage for storytelling, where ancient characters are the leading actors, dialoguing and interacting among them and occasionally with the user. In this project the efforts have been oriented towards the creation of an emotional, multi-sensorial scenario, inside which visitors can feel immersed and involved and acquire cultural contents in a pleasant and not frustrating way. Many factors contribute to create such a condition: narrative plots and non–linear interactive storytelling, interaction design, interface design, immersivity level, soundscapes. ln this perspective we tried to combine science, art and technology, to meet both mu - seums and research needs. The paper presents the methodological approach and technical solutions that have been adopted to achieve the desired results

BRANCACCI CHAPEL IN FLORENCE: SURVEYING AND REAL-TIME 3D SIMULATION FOR CONSERVATION AND COMMUNICATION PURPOSES

In 2020 to diagnose and monitor the condition of the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, the CNR initiated an important diagnostic and three-dimensional survey of the monument. These restoration preparatory activities have provided the opportunity and data for the creation of a real-time 3D simulation model that will not only help conservators and art historians better understand and manage the artwork, but will also enable the planning of improvement measures and the communication of the fresco cycle and its state of preservation to the public via the Brancacci POV application. Brancacci POV is a hybrid multi-user experience that allows a group of tourists to visit the chapel under the guidance of an expert, either on-site or off-site. The Web3D application is based on ATON, a framework developed by CNR ISPC that integrates 3D simulation of the monument and the discovery of invisible layers (e.g., ultraviolet data) processed and optimised for real-time rendering. The article illustrates all the steps performed from the 3D survey to the Web3D implementation to obtain the 3D simulation and achieve the expected interactive result. In particular, we focus on the optimization workflow of the reality-based model developed for this case study and on the processing of high-resolution maps (visible and invisible layers) for real-time web interaction

Integrated Close Range Remote Sensing Techniques for Detecting, Documenting, and Interpreting Lost Medieval Settlements under Canopy: The Case of Altanum (RC, Italy)

This paper focuses on the potential of an integrated approach using aerial LiDAR, aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, and archaeological survey to detect the presence and configuration of lost medieval settlements under canopy. This approach was applied to the site of Altanum (Calabria, Italy), on the hill of Sant'Eusebio, completely covered by vegetation. Altanum was a large fortified settlement characterised by a long occupation, especially during the Byzantine and Norman-Swabian periods. The activity began by carrying out a LiDAR survey of the whole hill. The acquired LiDAR data were processed and filtered in order to obtain a DFM (Digital Feature Model) useful for the identification of features of archaeological interest. Several enhancement techniques were performed on DFM to increase the visibility of archaeological features. The features thus identified were subsequently surveyed through the use of terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry integrated with laser scanning to document the visible buildings. The most significant result of the study was to create a single GIS platform with the integration of all data in order to delineate the whole settlement layout, as well as to produce 2D and 3D datasets useful for the for knowledge and protection of the identified remains