To safeguard Italy’s architectural and cultural heritage, particularly at risk given its seismic vulnerability, this research explores the integration of advanced digital technologies, including Building Information Modeling (BIM) and digital survey methodologies, to improve the knowledge, documentation, and conservation of historic sites. Using the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi as a case study, the research demonstrates how digitization processes applied to cultural heritage can support the protection and preservation of historic structures by incorporating intervention records and seismic monitoring data directly into the building’s digital representation. Conducted by the University of Perugia’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in collaboration with the "Provveditorato Interregionale alle OO.PP. per la Toscana, le Marche e l’Umbria" (Interregional Directorate of Public Works for Tuscany, Marche, and Umbria), the study highlights the potential of BIM to serve as a comprehensive information-management tool for cultural heritage. The project aims to provide public administrations with enhanced capabilities for safeguarding and managing heritage assets.
Italy’s small historic centers in inland regions face significant fragility due to administrative challenges, depopulation, and geomorphological risks that threaten their long-term stability. As part of the EU-funded Next Generation EU PRIN 2022 project, this research initiates an experimental action aimed at developing a replicable methodological protocol for the rapid and integrated digital documentation of the historic center of Stigliano (Matera, Basilicata). The objective is to generate a detailed, reality-based 3D model of the urban fabric—encompassing both buildings and open spaces—to serve as the foundation for a digital information system dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the site. The initial phase of the project focuses on data acquisition through photogrammetric techniques using mini-UAVs combined with mobile laser-scanning systems. This integrated approach, particularly well-suited for sites at high conservation risk, provides speed, flexibility, and comprehensive data capture. The challenging morphology of Stigliano, characterized by substantial elevation differences, a dense and irregular urban layout, and numerous narrow, inaccessible pathways, required a carefully structured close-range acquisition strategy. Additional terrestrial laser-scanning technologies, both static and mobile, were used to fill remaining data gaps. This paper presents the first results of the drone-based survey campaigns and discusses the methodological challenges encountered, along with the subdivision strategies adopted to produce a high-resolution 3D model of the historic center.
The article highlights the central role of theatrical costume as a historical tool for constructing cultural and sartorial identity through performance. It focuses on contemporary practices of digitizing and designing customized garments tailored to the specific physical characteristics of the actors who will wear them. The authors outline a workflow that begins with iconographic research to inform the initial sketches and continues through to the creation of physical prototypes in the tailor’s workshop. 3D modeling techniques, applied to both bodies and garments, make it possible to simulate the fit, refine the patterns, and ensure coherence across the entire production process. Notably, the recovery and reinterpretation of a dispersed and fragmented cultural heritage help revive the methods, knowledge, and artistic sensibilities of a profession now at risk of disappearing: that of the theatrical costume designer.
The creation of a virtual museum today must engage with the semantic web and linked data; it cannot be developed independently of the standards that shape its technological environment. The Virtual Museum of the University of Barcelona, launched in 2021, was conceived with these principles in mind, despite the complexity of its collections which encompass numerous and highly diverse forms of material, immaterial, natural, and human heritage, all managed by faculty members alongside their research, teaching, and administrative duties. This paper presents the process of developing the virtual museum, with particular attention to its material cultural heritage component. It begins by describing the data-modelling work, including the creation of a DCMI application profile informed by the CIDOC-CRM conceptual model. This effort required integrating sector-specific controlled vocabularies adapted for a linked-open-data (LOD) environment, as well as producing a data dictionary for collection managers. The article then discusses the data-cleaning and reconciliation procedures carried out to produce manageable data subsets for curators and to prepare the records for future semantic enrichment. The paper concludes by outlining the remaining tasks and upcoming initiatives aimed at enhancing the museum’s metadata through semantic technologies.
To safeguard Italy’s architectural and cultural heritage, particularly at risk given its seismic vulnerability, this research explores the integration of advanced digital technologies, including Building Information Modeling (BIM) and digital survey methodologies, to improve the knowledge, documentation, and conservation of historic sites. Using the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi as a case study, the research demonstrates how digitization processes applied to cultural heritage can support the protection and preservation of historic structures by incorporating intervention records and seismic monitoring data directly into the building’s digital representation. Conducted by the University of Perugia’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in collaboration with the "Provveditorato Interregionale alle OO.PP. per la Toscana, le Marche e l’Umbria" (Interregional Directorate of Public Works for Tuscany, Marche, and Umbria), the study highlights the potential of BIM to serve as a comprehensive information-management tool for cultural heritage. The project aims to provide public administrations with enhanced capabilities for safeguarding and managing heritage assets.
The paper presents the survey and the virtual reconstruction of the remains of the 3rd century BC ‘chamber’ type tombs found at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, along the southern slopes of Monte Massico. The frescoes decorating the walls, surveyed with photogrammetry, have been reconstructed to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of the deceased, creating a space of shared spatial reality. The paintings were schematically traced by discretizing the architectural elements. The use of the photogrammetric technique was of essential importance to create the basis for a virtual restoration of the tombs and for the accurate analysis of the wall paintings. Then, starting from the orthophotos of the tombs’ interior walls, the paintings were analysed and restored with the missing geometries to recreate the original appearance of the pictorial decorations. Since the tombs are irreparably damaged and the paintings are quickly disappearing, if not almost gone, the immersive environment is the only tool that allows the tombs to be restored to their ancient splendour. Subsequently, this environment is the only way to let contemporary people understand the feeling of immersion in the world of the dead that the ancient have experienced entering the tombs. If in the past it was the suggestion of the funerary rite, intensified by the environmental context, that enhanced the perception of the initiated, today it is advanced technology that makes it possible to design and construct collaborative spaces in which users can experience, with varying degrees of realism, meaningful and satisfying contexts.
This research aimed to develop a digital model of a mural by artist Roberto Cueva del Río, using photogrammetry and interactive 3D visualization as tools for heritage education on Mexican art from the Cardenista era. The methodology began with documentation and a literature review of the mural, followed by in situ digital acquisition consisting of 581 photographs processed with Polycam and subsequently integrated into Sketchfab. The final 3D model incorporates interactive hotspots that reveal contextual information. The creation of this interactive 3D representation demonstrates the value of a precise and non-invasive digital workflow that supports both conservation and educational goals. The study highlights how emerging technologies can foster innovation in heritage education and enhance the aesthetic experience through digital mediation. The results point to new opportunities for future research at the intersection of technology and cultural heritage, particularly within the framework of the digital humanities.
In the mid-20th century, United States U-2 Spy Planes flew over Central Tibet and captured high-resolution aerial photographs of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries just before they were destroyed en masse during China’s Cultural Revolution ca. 1966-76. This paper presents a cross-disciplinary study that uses Frame 2646R from U-2 Mission G3203 as the foundation for a 3D reconstruction of the Monastery. The methodology combines shadow analysis, satellite image orthorectification, and architectural rendering with extensive historical research drawn from Tibetan, Chinese, and Western sources. As a digital heritage initiative, it explores 3D modeling alternatives to photogrammetry, a method which requires numerous images to digitally reconstruct a single landmark. For now-destroyed historical sites with little existing visual documentation, shadow analysis presents a unique opportunity for 3D modeling. This paper culminates in two 3D reconstruction results, including: 1) a depiction of building masses on Nartang Monastery’s campus based only on shadow analysis and 2) a model with detailed renderings of some of the Monastery’s most notable spaces. To reconstruct the latter, sources such as early architectural field work drawings, a thangka painting, and accounts from travelogues contributed to incorporating speculative, stylized features into the shadow-analysis model. Our team of architects and researchers hopes this work informs future collaboration across fields to support cultural heritage preservation, especially in contexts where significant built manifestations of culture are lost.
The Hopewell culture built a series of geometric earthworks, among which the Newark Earthworks stand out as the most complex. It has long been suspected that a ceremonial, double-walled straight road connected Newark with the Hopewell Heartland, located in modern Chillicothe, 90 km southwest. In recent years, evidence for this Great Hopewell Road increased, as well as the awareness that the whole area was a sacred landscape; however, up to now, existing traces of the road have been found only at a few kilometers south-west of Newark. In the present paper, a new, comprehensive analysis of this topic is presented, using LiDAR and satellite imagery combined with the methods of scientific Archaeoastronomy. In this way we are able to propose in a definitive way that the road really connected the two centers, and to approach its symbolic significance. A coherent picture emerges which strongly points to a unitary project, aimed at making Newark a Hopewell “cosmic” pilgrimage center.
Traditional museum displays often struggle to effectively communicate the historical and artistic significance of Islamic funerary inscriptions, as their interpretation relies heavily on textual analysis. This study explores the impact of holographic storytelling and sculpted replicas as interpretative tools to enhance visitor engagement and comprehension of these inscriptions. Conducted at the Shaikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Center (Kuwait), the experiment involved a holographic narrator providing historical context while visitors interacted with sculpted replicas of inscriptions, allowing for both visual and tactile engagement. The results reveal that multi-sensory interpretation significantly improves visitor engagement and learning outcomes, with participants displaying increased dwell time, active participation in discussions, and greater recall of historical content. Survey data indicates that over 90% of participants found the holographic storyteller engaging and effective, while observational analysis confirmed that tactile interaction with replicas encouraged deeper exploration of the inscriptions. Additionally, interviews highlighted the role of cultural familiarity in visitor reception, as the use of a well-known artistic figure as the narrator enhanced emotional connection. These findings contribute to the growing discourse on interactive museum interpretation, reinforcing the need for integrated digital and physical storytelling approaches. The study underscores the potential of holography and tactile engagement in making text-based artifacts more accessible and immersive. Future research should further investigate long-term knowledge retention and adaptive digital storytelling techniques to enhance visitor experiences across diverse museum settings.
The objective of this study is to provide a discourse of Instagram augmented reality (AR) filter to promote the museum and engage a wide range of audiences to visit the exhibition of “Kartorupa: Cartographic Heritage of Java”, held by the Jakarta Maritime Museum. With the increasing fashion of social media, particularly Instagram, this research also tries to examine AR development leveraging Instagram filters as an alternative to the expensive possession of AR applications in the heritage sector. The creation of AR filters constitutes three different designs: cartographic photo, heritage object “Sextant”, and Da Vinci room. The performance of the built filters is reviewed by the visitors using a questionnaire on Google form consisting of four assessment components such as interactivity, enjoyment, learning, and technological affordance. Some improvements in the filter quality are also suggested to support the interactive platform for tourists in the future to create a sustainable digital infrastructure in the museum and cultural heritage sector.
While topographic measurement devices and methods continue to develop in earth sciences, some measurement tools have been adapted to consumer mobile devices. Mobile technological innovations introduced by Apple in 2020, including the iPad Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro, have facilitated reverse engineering studies with applications designed for different fields, including software for LIDAR sensor-oriented applications. 3D models of objects and structures are produced and documented in digital twin studies such as 3D models, point clouds, and measurement techniques. With the development of this technology in mobile devices, point clouds and solid models of archaeological studies and structures have started to be transferred to CAD environments in different formats. In this study, we aim to produce a coordinated and scaled plan of an archaeological architectural structure with centimeter precision in an indoor environment by using auxiliary measurement devices beyond modelling. The vaulted gallery (Cellar) located under the Temple of Zeus in the Ancient City of Aizanoi in Turkey was spatially transferred to the general plan of the city. In this context, our study serves as an example of how to implement 3D imaging of an interior space where GPS data cannot be obtained, which is a common scenario in underground cities, caves, etc.
This study explores the application of artificially intelligent (AI) virtual agents to simulate the movement of spectators through a high-quality digital reconstruction of the ancient. Building on the foundational work of Gutierrez et al. in "AI and Virtual Crowds: Populating the Colosseum," this research advances the understanding of crowd dynamics within this ancient spectacular structure. The simulation began by placing nearly 8000 virtual agents into one-quarter of the reconstructed virtual environment. Analysis of agents’ behaviors as they navigate to their respective seating galleries revealed that congestion within the structure noticeably changes when the class and gender composition of the crowd is taken into account. This can be simulated by varying agent priorities, where high priority agents can physically displace lower ones. In effect, such modulation is a mode by which some of the original cultural context of the structure can be simulated, i.e., the social identity of the spectators. The simulation also generated an alternative scenario wherein the agents were instantiated over a more realistic one-hour time frame and with a more historically accurate number of agents. Despite the larger number of agents under these conditions, the crowd density in this simulation noticeably decreased, and some social factors typically present in denser crowds were mitigated. The simulation itself was generated in the popular 3D development platform, Unity, and utilized its built-in AI navigation system. This was done to both modernize the simulation environment and also increase the ease of repeatability. The AI techniques used to simulate each agent’s behavior come from this out-of-the-box Unity system which operates with, among other things, the A* algorithm and the Reciprocal Velocity Obstacles (RVO) algorithm. This article highlights the continued potential of AI-driven simulations to offer insights into ancient crowd dynamics and reconstructive archaeology and concludes by discussing the future direction for research around AI simulations for cultural heritage and its allied disciplines
This paper presents a methodology for the virtual reconstruction of no longer existing archaeological structures, focusing on cases where the remains are concealed within contemporary urban environments. This approach is exemplified through the digital 3D reconstruction of the ancient Roman circus of Milan, a monumental building largely demolished at the end of the Roman Empire, with most of its remaining vestiges hidden beneath the modern urban fabric of Milan. Central to this approach is the comprehensive collection of historical research data, archival sources, and field inspections. This data is integrated with state-of-the-art surveying technologies, such as terrestrial and mobile laser scanning for underground data collection, photogrammetry for stratigraphic data extraction, and accurate georeferencing using differential GNSS. Thanks to accurate georeferencing, these data sets are then merged with preexisting cartographic and historical data in a GIS. The subsequent digital reconstruction process draws upon this georeferenced corpus of sources and comparisons with similar circuses. Refined through interdisciplinary collaboration, this process yields precise and, in some cases, innovative archaeological hypotheses.
This article describes the methodology used to automatically classify the constituent elements of a monochromatic mosaic from the Roman era. The classification involved the recognition of the tesserae (fragments of black and white materials for the floor ornamentation) of the mosaic using tools and algorithms implemented in Geographic Information System software (GIS). The analyses were performed using sample images expressly created by varying the colors on regular tiles in order to test the validity of the supervised classification in the ArcGIS environment. Subsequently, the same methodology was applied on mosaics from an ancient Roman archaeological site at Saltara; the results obtained from the classification process were compared to those obtained through visual reconstruction and manual vectorization. To assess the final quality and to validate the models obtained, a series of quality indicators were considered. The experimental results demonstrated that this approach offers effective classification in a short amount of time, making it a valuable tool for supporting work in the field of cultural heritage and, in particular, for the restoration and conservation activities of these artifacts.
This paper proposes a serious game that explores and digitally reconstructs the soundscape of the relocated Ottoman Sabīl (water dispensary) wa-Kuttāb (Quran elementary school) of Ismāʿīl al-Maghlawī, in historic Cairo, dated to 1657 CE. The sabīl was relocated in 1939 from its original location in Khān al-Khalīlī Street. It used to have an underground cistern, filled yearly with pure water from the Nile River, and provided water to passersby from its water dispensary room's window. The authors employed acoustic surveys to collect the impulse responses (IRs) in this sabīl toward developing an auralization using Odeon software. The auralized files were then deployed as a game using the Unity game engine, where players can identify the sabīl's architecture, soundscape, and spatial transformation over time. The game reveals the reverberating sounds of the sabīl's water path and, in the process, highlights the importance of acoustic documentation in the reconstruction of heritage buildings.
This paper aims to clarify the principles of Jordanian and Polish copyright laws applicable to the preservation of cultural heritage, and to recommend the adoption of certain policies to facilitate this task. It is meant to serve as a guide for stakeholders who deal with digital cultural heritage, directed particularly at museums, but also institutions such as libraries, archives, and art galleries. The research aims to discuss the role of copyright law in protecting cultural heritage in the face of the rapid development of ICT technologies. This includes identifying the risks and challenges associated with digital heritage, framing the relationship between authors of digital cultural content, rights holders, and institutions responsible for documenting and preserving it, and the need to establish a fair mechanism that guarantees their rights. The study aims to provide a presentation of the importance of compliance with copyright principles related to the digitization of cultural heritage and other relevant regulations in the Jordan region and the Polish legislation. The article was created as a result of international scientific cooperation in combination with an innovative view at the law-making and application processes in the era of dynamic development of science and technology. The analysis will include identification of legal acts, which aim to ensure the effective, future-oriented, and long-term protection of cultural heritage in Jordan and Poland.
This article aims to reconstruct the sensory space in which craft activities took place in the Quartier Mu at Malia, an urban district dating to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC in Crete. The study focuses on two areas: Room VIII 5* of the Potter’s workshop and the North Area, where pottery manufacturing, stone roughing out, drilling, and polishing were carried out. The goal of the research is to address sensory questions, including the sounds surrounding and generated by these activities and the light ambiances in which they were performed, at several moments throughout the day and at dusk. To achieve this goal, the activities were experimentally reproduced and the sounds they emitted were recorded. The light ambiances produced were reconstructed using replicas of lamps found in Room VIII 5*. 3D models of the spaces were designed and short, animated videos focusing on the gestures of artisans and the captured sensory ambiances were generated. The study provides valuable insights into the sensory ambiances of a Bronze Age town, showing craft activities taking place until dusk and sounds generated by stone working that contributed to the rhythm of daily life.
This study focuses on the efforts and projects to create and sustain the digital transformation of the museum collection in the Grand Egyptian Museum project. GEM is considered one of the cultural enlightenment projects where Egyptian heritage truly meets the latest technological innovations. GEM's one-of-a-kind and valuable collection will be displayed under overwhelming themes and narratives that will depict the ancient Egyptians' life, customs, death, and rebirth beliefs, which they performed and lived for almost 5,000 years. Egyptian cultural materials are spread across all of Egypt and managed by hundreds of museums; the task of digitization is a common challenge for all these museums. The study relied mainly on the quantitative method. The literature review and systematic observation were examined to study the trend toward the sustainability of GEM museum collections. Digital sustainability and digitization in Egyptian museums are constrained by limited knowledge capacity, fundraising resources, and ICT infrastructure. Faced with these constraints, the Grand Egyptian Museum has addressed these challenges with an interdisciplinary approach through collaborative planning, management, digitization, and digital presentation of its collections.
This research attempts to locate the pathways used during the Sicilian Bronze Age in the territory of the municipality of Milena (Caltanissetta, Italy), in a central area of the island. The study begins by analyzing settlement's superimposition from the Neolithic period through the Middle Ages. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it was possible to identify and hypothesize prehistoric routeways by combining UAV technology, remote sensing, and GIS applications. Thus, studying the ancient movement areas without new material evidence of their existence is possible. This methodological approach is a solution for identifying specific prehistoric pathways across the interior of Sicily. The settlement logic of the hinterland and mountainous areas on the island can sometimes be replicated in other parts of the island. The good results obtained allow us to use this case study as an example of best practices in identifying specific prehistoric routeways through the analysis of topographic features with combined technological methods to study other similar contexts.
