Paulo Bernardes

The use of traditional and computer-based visualization in archaeology: a user survey

Visualization methods are commonly used during the successive stages of the archaeological process. However, it is difficult to determine which methods are more intensively used in each stage and, also, which stage of the archaeological process is more demanding regarding visualization needs. Within a broader questionnaire regarding the use of computer tools, archaeologists were inquired about their use of traditional and computer-based visualization methods during the different stages of the archaeological process. The main survey results concerning visualization methods are presented and briefly analyzed.

A Tecnologia Multimédia no Registo do Património Arquitectónico

In recent years the fast growing adoption of the Internet as a tool to link companies for business purposes has appeared to be one of the major forces able to shape competition and the whole economy in 21st century. More specifically, the agreements between buying firms and supplying firms seem to head towards new scenarios, with possible consequences with regard to the time span of the relationship and the amount of information exchanged between business partners. This paper aims to present some research issues concerned with the adoption of interorganizational information systems and with the innovative relations allowed by the Internet as enabling infrastructure, and to point out the main theoretical hypothesis about buyer-suppliers relationships which emerge from the literature in the field. As a result, a definite set of statements will be provided. Furthermore, by considering the case of two of the leading food retailing companies in Britain, some web-based information systems will be discussed, in order to understand in which terms the speculative findings of the literature apply in the given cases.Na sociedade actual, o conhecimento existente nas empresas e uma forte arma competitiva quando gerido adequadamente. Os factores determinantes da sobrevivencia de uma grande parte das organizacoes reflectem-se na forma como a organizacao aprende e responde a mudanca atraves da partilha, distribuicao e criacao de conhecimento organizacional. O termo que vem sendo usado para referir a criacao, partilha e distribuicao de conhecimento e “gestao de conhecimento”.Neste artigo sao apresentados os resultados de um estudo exploratorio que pretende caracterizar o estado da gestao de conhecimento em Portugal. Pretendeu-se medir a sensibilidade das organizacoes para a necessidade e vantagens da gestao de conhecimento, bem como identificar projectos desenvolvidos ou em curso, ferramentas utilizadas e o conhecimento manuseado.O artigo comeca com uma breve contextualizacao historica e descricao da situacao actual. Em seguida introduz as principais alteracoes que o desenvolvimento tecnologico vem trazer as cadeias de valor das organizacoes. A abordagem seguinte, relativa a aprendizagem de Sistemas de Informacao (SI), debate a insuficiencia do factor tecnologico para estas mudancas, se nao houver, por parte das organizacoes, um esforco sistematico de tirar o maximo partido desse factor, apostando na valorizacao dos seus profissionais e, em particular, na aprendizagem dos SI na perspectiva da criacao de novo conhecimento organizacional nesta area. Ainda antes da apresentacao do modelo, e feita uma descricao mais exaustiva dos principais conceitos desta area do conhecimento organizacional. Finalmente e apresentado o modelo que propomos para ser utilizado na caracterizacao da aprendizagem dos SI.O objectivo desta comunicacao consiste em fazer uma abordagem generica aos sistemas de informacao e a tecnologia de suporte no âmbito da gestao das organizacoes ligadas a Cadeia de Valor do Turismo e Hotelaria. Pretende-se ainda reflectir sobre as conclusoes de um estudo efectuado pelos autores a utilizacao de Sistemas do tipo ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) nas unidades hoteleirasNos ultimos anos, congregaram-se alguns factores, pressionando os decisores da Saude para mudancas de fundo nas suas politicas: a dificuldade do controlo orcamental, o aumento do grau de exigencia dos utentes, o envelhecimento da populacao e a necessidade de comparacao e disseminacao de boas praticas. Estas mudancas de fundo implicam a existencia de sistemas de Qualidade, que nao podem existir sem recolha e tratamento de grandes volumes de dados. Os Sistemas de Suporte a Decisao tem sido, com sucesso, aplicados noutros dominios para resolver este problema. O autor propoe o uso de sistemas ja implementados em Portugal como base de trabalho para a criacao de uma Base de Dados Nacional de Indicadores.

A technology cocktail for a 3D photo-realistic model of a i century Roman fountain: range scanning, RTI and physically based rendering

Archaeology is a science that uses multiple disciplines to ensure the validity of archaeological data and to accurately support theoretical foundations. Archaeology uses computer graphics to create credible virtual representations of archaeological sites and artifacts, which are used for interpretation, research purposes and archiving. Accurate virtual representations of an archaeological site rely on a balanced mixture of techniques, and some are discussed in this communication aplied to a I century roman fountain. Different imaging techniques were integrated - point cloud from a total station, 3D mid-range laser scanning and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) - where their best features are extracted and combined to get the most accurate data in different scales. A point cloud enables a fair representation of the entire site (macro-scale), including the surrounding environment features. A 3D mid-range scanning captures the surface detail (medium-scale), but it may not be reliable to capture microstructure elements. An RTI technique (such as polynomial texture mapping, PTM) may overcome this limitation, since it can capture the microstructure elements through the surface reflectance properties. A physically based rendering technique (such as the one used by PBRT) can contribute to produce an improved view of an archaeological site, from a virtual 3D model. A collection of open-source software tools is under development to efficiently merge these techniques. This integrated set aims to provide a smooth integration of data gathered on the field, while adequately documenting all processing steps for archival purposes. Obtained results so far are promising and suggest some paths for improvements.

Visualization of ERT data for archaeological purposes

This work presents a visualization methodology for the correct comprehension and interpretation of ERT data by archaeologists. The authors developed a methodology based not only in colour mapping and slicing techniques but also on contouring and interaction procedures, obtaining an alternative to the traditional 2D pseudosection data visualization workflows. The implementation was carried out with the Visualization Toolkit from Kitware Inc. and is illustrated using two data samples: the first one was obtained on a hillfort in Boticas (Portugal) and the second one was acquired on an urban archaeological intervention in Braga (Portugal). CCS Concepts •Human-centered computing → Visualization; •Computing methodologies → Volumetric models; •Applied computing → Archaeology;

Feature enhancement from electrical resistivity data in an archaeological survey: the Sapelos hillfort experiment (Boticas, Portugal)

The PoPaTERVA project is developing applied research regarding the comprehension of the multi-layered cultural background of the Terva Valley Archaeological Park, in Boticas, Portugal. One of the main aspects focused on the project is the appliance of remote sensing techniques to enhance non visible archaeological features. An earth resistance tomography (ERT) survey was carried out at the Sapelos hillfort, by the specialized SINERGEO geophysicist’s team, using a Wenner-Schlumberger array. The resulting data was analyzed by the authors in order to extract and verify valid archaeological features regarding the settlement’s structures. There are several adequate systems that can be used to visualize the surveyed data (x, y, z, Ω). However, the authors preferred the open source Visualization Toolkit (VTK) from Kitware Inc., since it supports several visualization and modelling techniques that are useful for interpretation purposes in archaeological contexts: for instance, it is possible to represent the archaeological site as a virtual scale model, which can be freely manipulated. For the Sapelos hillfort, two distinct visualizations were developed to represent the acquired electrical resistivity data. The first one is used to create a comprehensive volume from the surveyed data, which is imported as structured 3D points and mapped into a 3D volume. However, this representation does not provide the necessary insight for analysis purposes, so a second visualization is needed to cluster the relevant data for archaeological research. This visualization is based on contouring algorithms that generate isosurfaces from scalar resistivity values (Ω), therefore enhancing the features with potential archaeological interest.