Alessandro Merlo

Game engine for Cultural Heritage: New opportunities in the relation between simplified models and database

Game engines can be regarded as powerful tools in the Cultural Heritage domain, not just as dissemination tools, but for managing the urban context in real time. This case-study is based on the ongoing project of Pietrabuona Castle (Pescia, Italy). It is an interesting example of a stratified historical centre, the conservation and promotion of which might benefit from using a new, integrated survey and alphanumeric data management tool. The method used to survey this medieval fortification had to provide both local institutions and researchers with an interactive tool encompassing several features of Cultural Heritage: from technical (decay, maintenance, environmental risks, etc.) to cultural (urban standard, historical understanding, immaterial features). Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the ongoing project, we decided to share some major points of our investigation with the scientific community, in particular those concerning our procedure: the opportunity to use interactive applications to display themes of urban settlements as 3D models, based on a survey by laser scanner.

From a Model of a City to an Urban Information System: The SIUR 3D of the Castle of Pietrabuona

Despite extensive research having been conducted on the subject, the problem of three-dimensional information systems for historical cities is actually still unresolved. In addition, commercially available software seems to be increasingly aiming at a quick development of unspecific urban settings, rather than at a metrically and perceptively faithful representation of reality. In this scenario, the SIUR 3D software (Sistema Informativo URbano tridimensionale) is based on a management structure that links an interactive, photorealistic and metrically reliable model of a city with a qualitative database of the historical, archaeological and material scope of an architectural part. Such application uses the Unity 3D game engine for geometrical models management and is equipped for online data sharing.

La Acrópolis de Chilonché (Guatemala): Crónica de las investigaciones de un patrimonio en riesgo en el área maya

Intensive research carried out at the Acropolis of the ancient Mayan city of Chilonche, which begun as a result of the fortuitous discovery in 2009 of a large zoomorphic sculpture hidden inside its basement, has revealed the great quality of its buildings, one of which retains an exceptional room decorated with murals, which was closed by the Mayas themselves at the end of the Classical period. However, the widespread archaeological looting to which the Acropolis has been subjected has greatly hampered the work of research and conservation on this remarkable cultural heritage. In this regard, the application of new documentation technologies through the use of the laser scanner and the later treatment of the information for the use of 3D techniques has allowed a detailed analysis which will help to ensure their appropriate preservation.

The Cultural, Geometric, Virtual Models for the Representation of a Survey

In the field of documentation of cultural heritage, the employment of surveying instruments and methods and graphic representation that use digital technology has become a consolidated praxis in the past decades. The literature of such issues tends to show, with few exceptions, the potential (often not fully expressed) of the latest hardware and software, throughout surveying experiences, some more intriguing than others (from a figurative point of view), without really indulging on the true problems behind their overall usage: from the very first data-acquisition to the final graphic panels. In truth, the procedures for digital survey are relatively new and not unanimously shared by the scientific community, and the central role taken by 3D digital models in such a processes is often mystified. Maquettes with apparent-colour textures, achieved throughout the integrated use of image-based techniques (digital photogrammetry) and range-based tools (laser scanner), do not always lead to a correct understanding and interpretation of the architectural artefacts, hence impedes to proficiently describe them throughout the codes of representation. The contribution aims to provide, with the chosen examples, some indications in this apparent paradox, with special emphasis on the limitations of nowadays technologies and the complications that could arise due to a-critical construction of digital models.