UID/HIS/04666/2013A nanotech-based clinical diagnosis kit for analysing ancient layers of paint promises conservation professionals cost reductions and greater accuracy.publishersversionpublishe

Claro, Ana

Fuente , Jesús de la

English

New University of Lisbon's Repository

S P E C I A L  F E A T U R E
©
 M
ar
ia
 T
er
es
a 
Li
na
za
MARIA TERESA LINAZA
the visitor can access 3D-captured con-
tent of National and Local Heroes in 
order to compete against them in a 3D 
environment. Then, this 3D interaction is 
enhanced by legacy videos and content 
about the TSGs, their history, instruments 
and modalities. Different stories are 
authored by museum curators, put in 
context and published in order to share 
and engage the visitors of the museum. 
  How do these technologies 
differ from similar market 
offerings? 
As far as we know, until now there 
has been no market offering other than 
video that digitally captures skills in 3D 
or records the unique movement signa-
tures of players. Mainstream sports like 
football, American football and basket-
ball use very precise motion capture 
and analysis technologies owned by 
large companies like Vicon, but the cost 
of such an approach is very high. On 
the contrary, REPLAY is looking towards 
a low-cost capturing, processing and 
analysis platform based on off-the-shelf 
technologies combining Microsoft 
Kinect devices with WIMUs.
  You can recover 3D motions 
even from historical films. How 
did you make that possible?
The main skills of ‘National Heroes’ 
can be recovered from TSG video legacy 
recorded with non-calibrated monocular 
cameras. This reconstruction generates 
an animated skeleton which represents 
the movements and poses of the player, 
along with the trajectory of the ball, all in 
a 3D environment. Such data can then be 
used in virtual museums, immersive vir-
tual systems or video games. 
To achieve this, a semi-automatic 
approach has been implemented in 
which a set of 2D representations of the 
scene’s elements (camera, ball and 
player) are manually marked in key 
frames of the video. Then, an automatic 
process estimates the calibration param-
eters of the camera, the 3D positions, 
poses and body part dimensions of the 
players, as well as the trajectory of the 
ball. In-between frames are automati-
cally calculated taking into account con-
straints related to human kinematics and 
collisions with the environment.
  What types of markets and 
businesses are you targeting 
with this project?
Intangible Cultural Heritage is the nat-
ural market for the results of the project. 
One potential example of application is 
the preservation of handcrafters’ skills by 
capturing and recognising the gestures 
performed by some parts of the body 
(hands, arms and feet) using low-cost 
standard equipment. 
Another potential scenario is rehabili-
tation, as determining whether the 
movements of the player are complete 
and correct can become a big problem. 
Multiple motion capture modalities 
should be evaluated and combined, 
including the already ubiquitous monoc-
ular Webcams, depth sensing devices 
such as Microsoft Kinect and emerging 
wireless low-cost sensors (mainly inertial 
sensors). The combination of one or 
more sensing devices will lead to differ-
ent uses for the platform (i.e. the use of 
a low-cost Webcam to practice at home; 
a Microsoft Kinect device for motion cap-
turing; and multiple Kinects and/or wear-
able sensors for large-scale installations 
at nursing homes or even hospitals). 
  The project ends in February. 
What are your plans until then 
and after it finishes?
In January 2016 the final REPLAY 
platform will be tested by real users both 
in the Basque Country and in Ireland. The 
PLAY&LEARN scenario will be evaluated 
with children (aged 8 to 16) from Pelota 
schools from the three Basque provinces 
and the south of France. For the Gaelic 
Sports, the three scenarios will be val-
idated: the PLAY&LEARN scenario with 
children from primary schools in the 
Dublin area; the COACH&TRAIN sce-
nario with coaches from several Irish 
clubs and their players; and the 
INTERACT&PRESERVE scenario with 
museum curators and visitors at the 
Croke Park Museum.
The third and final End-User Advisory 
Board Workshop will take place in Dublin 
on 28 January during the evaluation of 
the final REPLAY prototype. Then, a final 
handbook will analyse and specify the 
methodologies and most cost-effective 
hardware solutions to extend the results 
of the project to other TSGs. 
REPLAY
 Coordinated by Vicomtech in Spain.
 Funded under FP7-ICT.
http://cordis.europa.eu/project/
rcn/106860
Project website:  
http://www.fp7-replay.eu/
NANOTECH TOOLS OFFER AFFORDABLE, 
ACCURATE HISTORICAL PAINT ANALYSIS 
A nanotech-based clinical diagnosis kit for analysing ancient layers of paint promises conservation 
professionals cost reductions and greater accuracy. 
Developed through the EU-funded NANOART (Nano Art Research Tool) project, the new testing kit has already been applied to identify binders such as collagen and 
ovalbumin in ancient paint, not only in model samples painted 
in the lab but also in real samples collected from works of art. 
‘Once fully completed, our new tool will be made available 
to conservation scientists from around the world at an 
affordable cost (an assay can cost around EUR 0.50 per tar-
get), which will facilitate greater knowledge about 
historical works of art and help international museums, 
restoration art studios and laboratories to plan the best 
conservation and preventive strategies,’ explains NANOART 
project coordinator Dr Jesus de la Fuente from the CSIC/
University of Zaragoza, Spain.
In addition, the sensitivity of the project’s new nanotech-
nology-based methods means that smaller samples are 
required to be taken from the artwork for analysis. This in 
itself will help to better preserve our cultural heritage.
14 research*eu results magazine N°49 / February 2016
 S P E C I A L  F E A T U R E
©
 S
AS
M
AP
In order to characterise ancient paints, experts have often 
relied on conventional molecular biology methodologies that 
were developed decades ago. The concept behind the 
NANOART project was that these techniques could be sub-
stituted by more sensitive, inexpensive and faster techniques 
that take advantage of emerging nanotechnologies. 
Furthermore, conventional methods — apart from being expen-
sive — are also only available at a few laboratories, and require 
specialised personnel and equipment. A key objective of the 
NANOART project has been to address the cost issue by apply-
ing techniques developed for clinical diagnosis. In this way, the 
project is also highly original as it aims to take the latest devel-
opments in clinical medicine and apply them to the conserva-
tion and preservation of cultural heritage.
‘The innovative nature of the project is also denoted by the fact 
that there is currently no method or kit available that can be 
easily used at point-of-care to analyse paints without requiring 
expensive equipment and extensive training,’ says Ana Claro, 
research fellow from the INA/University of Zaragoza. ‘With 
the NANOART kit, the final user will be able to conduct an 
affordable analysis (in some cases at the cost of only a few euros) 
by simply following the instructions. Within a four-hour period, the 
results will be available.’ 
The potential opportunities opened up by the new analytical nano-
technology are huge. For example, developed in parallel with the 
NANOART kit, a spin-off company called NanoImmunotech has 
been launched in order to develop devices to detect bacterial 
infection in meat using the same technology as used in NANOART. 
‘This opens our technology to other applications far from cultural 
heritage applications,’ says de la Fuente. ‘However, we would like 
to continue further developing novel uses of NANOART technol-
ogy for other applications in cultural heritage, and our next step 
will be to look for funding to develop an even more user friendly 
device.’
NANOART
 Coordinated by the University of Zaragoza in Spain.
 Funded under FP7-PEOPLE.
http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/107275 
I N T E R V I E W
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TOOLS TO MAP 
AND PROTECT UNDERWATER TREASURES
Our seas and oceans are home to a tremendous amount of archaeological sites and artefacts. These 
invaluable witnesses to history are often difficult to locate, and even then experts are still faced with the 
question of whether to conserve them in situ or bring them to the surface. The SASMAP project has 
developed tools and technologies that will help solve both conundrums.
The value of underwater cultural her-itage no longer needs to be proven. According to UNESCO estimates, 
some 3 million shipwrecks are spread 
across the world’s ocean floors. And that’s 
without counting submerged heritage 
sites: In Denmark alone, where the 
‘UNESCO Scientific Colloquium on the 
Access to Underwater Cultural Heritage’ 
will take place from 8 to 9 June 2016, 
around 20 000 sites can be found. It there-
fore comes as no surprise that the 
National Museum of Denmark, as coordi-
nator of the SASMAP project, set out to 
help archaeologists to better map and 
protect these hidden treasures.
The SASMAP concept was born from two 
main observations. The first one is that 
the huge potential of underwater cultural 
heritage is in contrast with how it is 
undervalued. The Vasa Museum in 
Sweden, for instance, attracts as many 
as 1 million visitors per year largely 
thanks to its huge Swedish warship of 
1626 that was recovered in 1961. 
The second one, and the most important, 
is that excavation is not always the most 
realistic and preferable option. As pointed 
out on the SASMAP website, ‘a single 
large wooden wreck, such as the Mary 
Rose in the UK, has to date cost 
ca. EUR 80 million to raise, conserve 
and exhibit, whereas the physical in situ 
preservation of a similar sized wreck in 
Sweden cost around EUR 0.07 million’. 
Sometimes bringing such cultural herit-
age back to the surface can also damage 
it beyond repair.
Dr David Gregory, coordinator of SASMAP, 
explains how the project’s tools and tech-
nologies will help archaeologists in their 
quest to locate and analyse heritage 
sites, but also to decide on the best con-
servation option.
  What are the main problems 
related to locating and 
conserving underwater sites?
Dr David Gregory: I will try and 
answer this question in two parts. Firstly, 
the issue of locating, and secondly, mat-
ters relating to conservation. Locating 
sites is generally difficult as sites are 
underwater and this makes diver-based 
searches far more labour-intensive and 
expensive. These operations are often 
hampered by poor visibility and arduous 
working conditions. Furthermore, even 
though one often has the picture of a 
shipwreck sitting on the seabed, prehis-
toric remains and landscapes are often 
buried, and so are more ancient ship-
wrecks. This has been solved with an 
increased use of acoustic survey tech-
niques that can very accurately predict, 
record and model what is lying on the 
seabed and within the seabed. A new 
type of acoustic device that can look into 
the seabed in 3D has also been devel-
oped within the project and is already 
being taken up by other marine research-
ers, not just archaeologists but also geol-
ogists, etc.
Now in terms of conservation, there 
are two aspects to consider — one is 
what is called in situ preservation, that 
is to say locating, documenting, protect-
ing and monitoring sites where they lie 
on the seabed. This approach is very 
much the current ethos within maritime 
archaeology both at a European level 
and internationally — there are several 
treaties which argue for this approach. 
However, sometimes in situ preservation 
is not appropriate as sites are at risk of 
15research*eu results magazine N°49 / February 2016


Nanotech tools offer affordable, accurate historical paint analysis

Repositório da Universidade Nova de Lisboa

S P E C I A L  F E A T U R E© Maria Teresa LinazaMARIA TERESA LINAZAthe visitor can access 3D-captured con-tent of National and Local Heroes in order to compete against them in a 3D environment. Then, this 3D interaction is enhanced by legacy videos and content about the TSGs, their history, instruments and modalities. Different stories are authored by museum curators, put in context and published in order to share and engage the visitors of the museum.   How do these technologies differ from similar market offerings? As far as we know, until now there has been no market offering other than video that digitally captures skills in 3D or records the unique movement signa-tures of players. Mainstream sports like football, American football and basket-ball use very precise motion capture and analysis technologies owned by large companies like Vicon, but the cost of such an approach is very high. On the contrary, REPLAY is looking towards a low-cost capturing, processing and analysis platform based on off-the-shelf technologies combining Microsoft Kinect devices with WIMUs.  You can recover 3D motions even from historical films. How did you make that possible?The main skills of ‘National Heroes’ can be recovered from TSG video legacy recorded with non-calibrated monocular cameras. This reconstruction generates an animated skeleton which represents the movements and poses of the player, along with the trajectory of the ball, all in a 3D environment. Such data can then be used in virtual museums, immersive vir-tual systems or video games. To achieve this, a semi-automatic approach has been implemented in which a set of 2D representations of the scene’s elements (camera, ball and player) are manually marked in key frames of the video. Then, an automatic process estimates the calibration param-eters of the camera, the 3D positions, poses and body part dimensions of the players, as well as the trajectory of the ball. In-between frames are automati-cally calculated taking into account con-straints related to human kinematics and collisions with the environment.  What types of markets and businesses are you targeting with this project?Intangible Cultural Heritage is the nat-ural market for the results of the project. One potential example of application is the preservation of handcrafters’ skills by capturing and recognising the gestures performed by some parts of the body (hands, arms and feet) using low-cost standard equipment. Another potential scenario is rehabili-tation, as determining whether the movements of the player are complete and correct can become a big problem. Multiple motion capture modalities should be evaluated and combined, including the already ubiquitous monoc-ular Webcams, depth sensing devices such as Microsoft Kinect and emerging wireless low-cost sensors (mainly inertial sensors). The combination of one or more sensing devices will lead to differ-ent uses for the platform (i.e. the use of a low-cost Webcam to practice at home; a Microsoft Kinect device for motion cap-turing; and multiple Kinects and/or wear-able sensors for large-scale installations at nursing homes or even hospitals).   The project ends in February. What are your plans until then and after it finishes?In January 2016 the final REPLAY platform will be tested by real users both in the Basque Country and in Ireland. The PLAY&LEARN scenario will be evaluated with children (aged 8 to 16) from Pelota schools from the three Basque provinces and the south of France. For the Gaelic Sports, the three scenarios will be val-idated: the PLAY&LEARN scenario with children from primary schools in the Dublin area; the COACH&TRAIN sce-nario with coaches from several Irish clubs and their players; and the INTERACT&PRESERVE scenario with museum curators and visitors at the Croke Park Museum.The third and final End-User Advisory Board Workshop will take place in Dublin on 28 January during the evaluation of the final REPLAY prototype. Then, a final handbook will analyse and specify the methodologies and most cost-effective hardware solutions to extend the results of the project to other TSGs. REPLAY Coordinated by Vicomtech in Spain. Funded under FP7-ICT.http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/106860Project website:  http://www.fp7-replay.eu/NANOTECH TOOLS OFFER AFFORDABLE, ACCURATE HISTORICAL PAINT ANALYSIS A nanotech-based clinical diagnosis kit for analysing ancient layers of paint promises conservation professionals cost reductions and greater accuracy. Developed through the EU-funded NANOART (Nano Art Research Tool) project, the new testing kit has already been applied to identify binders such as collagen and ovalbumin in ancient paint, not only in model samples painted in the lab but also in real samples collected from works of art. ‘Once fully completed, our new tool will be made available to conservation scientists from around the world at an affordable cost (an assay can cost around EUR 0.50 per tar-get), which will facilitate greater knowledge about historical works of art and help international museums, restoration art studios and laboratories to plan the best conservation and preventive strategies,’ explains NANOART project coordinator Dr Jesus de la Fuente from the CSIC/University of Zaragoza, Spain.In addition, the sensitivity of the project’s new nanotech-nology-based methods means that smaller samples are required to be taken from the artwork for analysis. This in itself will help to better preserve our cultural heritage.14 research*eu results magazine N°49 / February 2016 S P E C I A L  F E A T U R E© SASMAPIn order to characterise ancient paints, experts have often relied on conventional molecular biology methodologies that were developed decades ago. The concept behind the NANOART project was that these techniques could be sub-stituted by more sensitive, inexpensive and faster techniques that take advantage of emerging nanotechnologies. Furthermore, conventional methods — apart from being expen-sive — are also only available at a few laboratories, and require specialised personnel and equipment. A key objective of the NANOART project has been to address the cost issue by apply-ing techniques developed for clinical diagnosis. In this way, the project is also highly original as it aims to take the latest devel-opments in clinical medicine and apply them to the conserva-tion and preservation of cultural heritage.‘The innovative nature of the project is also denoted by the fact that there is currently no method or kit available that can be easily used at point-of-care to analyse paints without requiring expensive equipment and extensive training,’ says Ana Claro, research fellow from the INA/University of Zaragoza. ‘With the NANOART kit, the final user will be able to conduct an affordable analysis (in some cases at the cost of only a few euros) by simply following the instructions. Within a four-hour period, the results will be available.’ The potential opportunities opened up by the new analytical nano-technology are huge. For example, developed in parallel with the NANOART kit, a spin-off company called NanoImmunotech has been launched in order to develop devices to detect bacterial infection in meat using the same technology as used in NANOART. ‘This opens our technology to other applications far from cultural heritage applications,’ says de la Fuente. ‘However, we would like to continue further developing novel uses of NANOART technol-ogy for other applications in cultural heritage, and our next step will be to look for funding to develop an even more user friendly device.’NANOART Coordinated by the University of Zaragoza in Spain. Funded under FP7-PEOPLE.http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/107275 I N T E R V I E WNEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TOOLS TO MAP AND PROTECT UNDERWATER TREASURESOur seas and oceans are home to a tremendous amount of archaeological sites and artefacts. These invaluable witnesses to history are often difficult to locate, and even then experts are still faced with the question of whether to conserve them in situ or bring them to the surface. The SASMAP project has developed tools and technologies that will help solve both conundrums.The value of underwater cultural her-itage no longer needs to be proven. According to UNESCO estimates, some 3 million shipwrecks are spread across the world’s ocean floors. And that’s without counting submerged heritage sites: In Denmark alone, where the ‘UNESCO Scientific Colloquium on the Access to Underwater Cultural Heritage’ will take place from 8 to 9 June 2016, around 20 000 sites can be found. It there-fore comes as no surprise that the National Museum of Denmark, as coordi-nator of the SASMAP project, set out to help archaeologists to better map and protect these hidden treasures.The SASMAP concept was born from two main observations. The first one is that the huge potential of underwater cultural heritage is in contrast with how it is undervalued. The Vasa Museum in Sweden, for instance, attracts as many as 1 million visitors per year largely thanks to its huge Swedish warship of 1626 that was recovered in 1961. The second one, and the most important, is that excavation is not always the most realistic and preferable option. As pointed out on the SASMAP website, ‘a single large wooden wreck, such as the Mary Rose in the UK, has to date cost ca. EUR 80 million to raise, conserve and exhibit, whereas the physical in situ preservation of a similar sized wreck in Sweden cost around EUR 0.07 million’. Sometimes bringing such cultural herit-age back to the surface can also damage it beyond repair.Dr David Gregory, coordinator of SASMAP, explains how the project’s tools and tech-nologies will help archaeologists in their quest to locate and analyse heritage sites, but also to decide on the best con-servation option.  What are the main problems related to locating and conserving underwater sites?Dr David Gregory: I will try and answer this question in two parts. Firstly, the issue of locating, and secondly, mat-ters relating to conservation. Locating sites is generally difficult as sites are underwater and this makes diver-based searches far more labour-intensive and expensive. These operations are often hampered by poor visibility and arduous working conditions. Furthermore, even though one often has the picture of a shipwreck sitting on the seabed, prehis-toric remains and landscapes are often buried, and so are more ancient ship-wrecks. This has been solved with an increased use of acoustic survey tech-niques that can very accurately predict, record and model what is lying on the seabed and within the seabed. A new type of acoustic device that can look into the seabed in 3D has also been devel-oped within the project and is already being taken up by other marine research-ers, not just archaeologists but also geol-ogists, etc.Now in terms of conservation, there are two aspects to consider — one is what is called in situ preservation, that is to say locating, documenting, protect-ing and monitoring sites where they lie on the seabed. This approach is very much the current ethos within maritime archaeology both at a European level and internationally — there are several treaties which argue for this approach. However, sometimes in situ preservation is not appropriate as sites are at risk of 15research*eu results magazine N°49 / February 2016

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Nanotech tools offer affordable, accurate historical paint analysis

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