NATURAL INTERACTION AT WORK

EGA. Revista de expresión gráfica arquitectónica, 2016

EGA Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica [En línea], 2016

Advances in graphical power of computers increase the realism of 3D virtual representations and the quality of details, allowing for very precise studies on the typology and constructive methods. This has allowed to put the images and graphic animations in a virtual scenario, in which the observer connects with the heritage interactively with total freedom of movement. Archaeological evidence of Medieval times at Torreparedones site identify a castle and an area of auxiliary services. By using the software of game engines, commonly used for leisure and entertainment, and archeological reports, is expected to reconstruct a dynamic scenario with elements of cultural heritage from the Torreparedones Castle of Baena that permits to analyze interactively the reconstructive hypothesis of reality obtained from the study, making the observer to lead the navigation among the patrimonial elements represented.

Virtual Archaeology Review, 2012

A basic limit of most of VR applications created by the scientific community and reproducing cultural sites or artefacts is that they do not fire up the attention of public, in comparison with the great potentialities of VR system for cultural transmission: they are often lacking in emotional storytelling and difficult to manage. An important factor is the need of more natural and simple interfaces, especially for applications hosted inside museums. Starting from our experience in this domain, we propose new metaphors of narration and paradigm of interaction based on natural interfaces (body movements), presenting three study cases: "The Rule confirmation: virtual experience among Giotto's characters", "Etruscanning3D", "Virtual Exploration of the ancient Pharmacy of S. Maria della Scaletta Hospital at Imola".

Proceedings of the international conference on Multimedia - MM '10, 2010

One of the most interesting issues in the field of cultural heritage is the adoption of multimedia systems for the visualization and organization of information. In this paper we present a natural interaction based system designed to represent multimedia contents related to the archaeological site of Shawbak, situated in the Petra region of Jordan. Contents are composed of texts, images and videos showing and explaining the archeological site areas and the history of the castle. This system was installed at the Limonaia di Palazzo Pitti (Italy) for the archeological exhibition called "From Petra to Shawbak".

2002

Cultural heritage is an extremely valuable set of materiality, traditions and knowledge from the Past that should be used to better understand the Past itself. However, even nowadays there are still some difficulties to manage, preserve and disseminate cultural heritage sites. The usage of multimedia technology and 3D environments in cultural heritage has reduced these difficulties; nonetheless, there are still some remaining problems. In the last years, some multimedia technology and 3D environments have been applied to the cultural heritage in Portugal. A few of them are used for scientific research purposes and others are used for dissemination purposes. In this article, the authors will refer to some representative Portuguese case studies using Virtual Environments to maintain, preserve and promote Cultural Heritage. A critical reading of these projects will be made in order to stress out their success and to point out their weaknesses and limitations.

As often happens, many monuments are affected, for various reasons, by an inevitable trouble: the artefacts preserved inside them until the discover have been brought into some museum, because (e.g.) the monumental structures had to be restored (in most cases with provisional works) in order to prevent their collapse. One consequence of this moving is the de-contextualization of the grave goods and the nonvalorisation of monumental archaeological contexts. An effective solution for these issues can be achieved from the use of technologies that allow the virtual enjoyment of these monuments and the virtual set-up of the grave goods in their original contexts. This paper presents the project “Marta Racconta. Storie Virtuali di Tesori Nascosti”, co-financed by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Puglia, carried out by CNR-IBAM (Lecce, Italy) in order to provide the installation of a Virtual Platform in the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MARTA). The main purpose of this project is to make ‘accessible’ ancient monuments from the Greek Taras (the ancient Taranto) currently inaccessible to visitors. These are: the Tomb of the Athlete of Taranto, Tomb of the Festoons, and the Hypogeum of the Gorgons, was discovered some years ago in Via Otranto. From a technological point of view, we have developed a Real Time 3D platform for a stereoscopic immersive visit, in which a navigation system with ‘natural interface’ was implemented, where the commands are executed with simple hand gestures. Through this technology, the visitor will have the opportunity to follow a path of integrated knowledge starting from heterogeneous contents, which will allow the access to historical and archaeological data, the archaeometric analyses and the spatial navigation within a hyperrealistic environment where it will be possible to interact with the three-dimensional structures, to query the Database and to explore, interactively, the funerary finds.

EGA. Revista de expresión gráfica arquitectónica, 2017

This paper describes the results obtained in two different projects for museum communication aimed at digital restoration and enjoyment at a distance of some artworks of Giovanni Todisco form Abriola. The first project was promoted in the year 2005 by the Municipality of Abriola (Potenza, Italy) and the Basento Camastra Local Action Group as part of the “Cammini d’Europa” project (Asse II Cooperazione transnazionale). It was conducted in collaboration with Officina Rambaldi, an international team of professionals headed by Carlo Rambaldi, Oscar winner for special effects. The objective of this study is basically museographical, i.e. to promote knowledge and virtual exhibition of the works of two great artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, Giovanni and Girolamo Todisco da Abriola. The starting point of this knowledge itinerary is the Sanctuary of Monteforte, in Abriola, virtually reconstructed in 3D using image-based technologies with particular reference to photo-modelling which were integrated into a navigation engine for Real Time 3D content. The overall management of the data on a web-based platform enables the distance viewing of works and places, including the Sanctuary and its geographical context. It also gives access to a pool of heterogeneous information (interactive spherical panoramas, texts, videos, Flash and Shockwave animation, etc.). The use of accurate 3D models enables highly realistic three-dimensional navigation, which is made even more convincing and engaging by the adoption of stereoscopic viewing systems. The project was officially presented to the public only in February 2011, demonstrating the continuing validity and communicative effectiveness of this by-now consolidated technology in terms of both communication and distance viewing of contexts of historical and archaeological interest. The second project regarding the virtual reconstruction of the pictorial cycles located in the monastery of Santa Maria di Orsoleo in Sant'Arcangelo (Potenza) detached from their original context in 1973 for protection purpose. The extraordinary frescoes that were found along the walls of the cloister depict stories the life of the Virgin and Christ, allegorical scenes, episodes from the life of St. Francis and greatest triumphs of life and death. The virtual development is part of the project for conversion of the monastery in Scenographic Museum of the spirituality. The reconstruction process is aimed at re-contextualization of the frescoes through a three-dimensional restitution of cloister using image-based techniques and camera mapping texture mapping. The result has allowed us to view the complete cycles in the original context, and the visitors to understand all the extraordinary expressive force of this artist, symbol of the Lucan Renaissance.

Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, 2017

The conservation and valorization of our cultural heritage has become one of the priorities of the international community. Accordingly, many technological applications are being developed with a cultural object as the focal theme of interest. This paper presents a detailed account of the construction of a computerized model of the Roman Theater of Byblos, one of oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Central to the paper is a historical study, which yielded the formation of a hypothesis on the original shape and details of the theater, which today retains very little of its original structure. Another major part of the paper is the detailed description of the procedures for the creation of both a virtual and augmented reality application of the Roman theater.

Etruscanning is a European project (Culture 2007) whose aim is to re-create and restore the original context of Etruscan graves. The main objectives are: digital acquisition, digital restoration, 3D representation and implementation of innovative VR environments related to Etruscan tombs and collections in European and Italian Museums. We focused on the Rego- lini-Galassi tomb in the Sorbo necropolis in Cerveteri, one of the most remarkable Etruscan graves. It was discovered still intact in 1836 and is famous not only for its rich contents but also for the objects showing the Orientalising in�uence. The �nds from this tomb are kept in the Gregorian Etruscan Museum in the Vatican Museums and the empty grave at the site is not always open to public. By making 3D reconstructions of the tomb and the objects we can re-create the archaeological context of this Etruscan tomb. As the process of virtual reconstruction of the Regolini-Galassi tomb tries to visualize it at the moment it was closed, we needed to recompose the original placement of the objects and their ancient appearance. This was not easy as we had to reconsider some contradictory historical plans and iconographies (Gri�, Canina, etc.) and to answer some dif�cult questions. The Regolini-Galassi tomb was implemented in a VR environment and a permanent instal- lation was presented in the Vatican Museums in April 2013. A key aspect is the development of natural interaction interfaces: visitors use body movements to explore the 3D space and to access contents without the need for any traditional interface. This solution not only makes the experience more engaging but also allows people of every level of skill to enjoy and learn. This “embodiment” constitutes a new frontier in the communication and learning processes and we believe that it represents a crucial element in museums.