Digital Architectural Representations represent the most fruitful field of research of the last decade. Digital technologies and the use of internet in architectural representation shows how 3D visualization combined with storytelling can help to spread scientific knowledge over the web. These new technol-ogies also affect the way of thinking 3D models, how to design them and how to build their related knowledge with the purpose of future reuse of information and data.The paper is focused on the analysis of current methodologies and workflows for data modelling in Architecture to better understand the potential of using standards in the 3D modelling sector with a focus on cultural and architectural heritage.
Automated Modelling of Masonry Walls: a ML and AR Approach
A methodology for the automated delineation of brick masonries from images to a vector repre-sentation is discussed in this paper. Python environment is chosen for the coding activity in order to provide automation to the process. Edge detection and vector delineation of brick joints are followed by a phase of brick clustering for masonry classification. The implementation of the process is tested on a video sequence to simulate an augmented reality application for masonry detection.
Deep Learning for Point Clouds Classification in the Ducal Palace at Urbino
Starting from a multi–scalar and multi–dimensional survey, most interdisciplinary researches, based on representation, are becoming a tool for dialogue between the new trends of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the most compelling needs of our CH. The approach here proposed stems from the desire to understand how much of the skills useful in architecture analysing and modelling can be made available to the “machine”, with the goal to accelerate cognitive or management processes. Some HBIM models, as an existing digital heritage, were used to obtain the semantic intelligence. From this specialised intelligence comes a cyclical path which, through AI, transforms this knowledge into new forms of collective intelligence, at the service of the heritage. The paper presents a research that brings very promising results for the segmentation of point clouds and the facilitation of ScanToHBIM approaches, made possible by the large amount of data acquired on the Ducal Palace of Urbino.
CHROME Project: Representation and Survey for AI Development
The paper shows the results of the PRIN CHROME Cultural Heritage Orienting Multimodal Experi-ences project, about the three charterhouses of Campania, with a specific focus on research activities related to the connections between representation, survey, AI and VR. The project has formalized a methodology of collection, analysis and modeling of multimodal data, useful for designing virtual agents in 3D environments, which can be applicable in museum environments. The achievement of the goal is pursued through: (i) an integrated range–based acquisition and morphometric data modeling process coherent with VR management, (ii) the use of semantic maps linked with thesauri published as LOD to solve both the theme of ambiguity and annotation uncertainty and the inter-pretability of information by an AI; (iii) the modeling of a virtual agent with the development of a mathematical model for computational control of gestures and prosody.
Immersive Technologies for the Museum of the Charterhouse of Calci
The Charterhouse of Pisa in Calci, one of the most important monasteries in Tuscany, now houses two important museums: the Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa and the National Museum of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci. While the Natural History Museum has recently enriched its collection by offering structured and differentiated visits based on user type, the offerings of the Museum of the Monumental Charterhouse are not sufficiently adequate to meet the great his-torical value of the complex. This contribution therefore presents the first results of a project aimed at enhancing visits to the National Museum of the Charterhouse using immersive technologies. The project envisages the definition of a new visit path, modifying the current path and integrating it with immersive experiences of video mapping, VR/AR, sound immersion, informative totems, audio–visual supports, and multisensory activities.
Drawing, Visualization and Augmented Reality of the 1791 Celebration in Naples
This paper investigates the ephemeral architecture of the eighteenth century in Naples through the literary and iconographic sources found in the volume Idee per le pubbliche feste nel ritorno in Napoli de’nostri Augusti Sovrani dalla Germania […] by Gaetano Barba (1971). The goal is an unprecedented representation, modeling and fruition project, accompanied by a graphic visualization of the places to better understand the architectural and urban space in the absence of allusive images of three–di-mensionality. Subsequently, the visual construction of the contexts on an urban and architectural scale made it possible to disseminate the compositional elements of the celebrations and the internal per-ceptions to a non–specialist public. Finally, an Augmented–Reality application prototype.
When the Real Really Means: VR and AR Experiences in Real Environments
During this past year the Laboratory for eXtended Realities (DIDA–LXR) from the DIDALABS sys-tem at the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence, has experienced a various number of activities. Most of them linked together digital modelling of no longer existing architectures and still in place Built Heritage. Others were aimed to develop an “Augmented Virtual Reality” using specific environments/locations (for example a boat) to enhance the sensations of the user during the experience. Some others were based on direct VR shooting, using advanced panoramic cameras and creating a point of view compliant with the specific impressions that the place should transmit. In the contribution proposed here the AR, VR and XR experiences from this personal research will be presented sharing the specific subjects, the evaluation of usable technologies, the strategy for shoot-ing, survey, processing and post–processing, the dissemination of ideas and the lesson learnt.
A Technique to Measure the Spatial Quality of Slow Routes in Fragile Territories Using Image Segmentation
The current research aims at investigating the potential of image segmentation (IS) technology, based on web application, for measuring the spatial quality of slow routes. The big amount of street–level images, publicly available through several applications such as Mapillary, Google Street View, are rele-vant sources of information, that allow virtual explorations of many places around the world. The (IS) technology allows partitioning of a single digital image into sets of pixels in order to read and recognize the visual content within the frame of the image. By applying IS technology to the images taken along a defined route, it has established a method for grouping images in relation to their spatial features. The method has been applied to some stretches of slow–mobility routes, that are localized along the fragile coastal landscape of Trabucchi, south of Italy. A selection of images along the route, both in the outdoor and urban space, has been analyzed, with the aim to test the effectiveness of the method, able to produce useful information to define a Spatial Quality Index.
Phygitalarcheology for the Phlegraean Fields
The research investigates the theme of the valorization of the huge, but widespread, archaeological heritage of the Phlegraean Fields which, already weakened in its conservation and fruition by the bradyseismic phenomena of the area, is made even more fragile by the absence of narrative strategies, making even local communities unable to perceive its value. The study proposes a systematization of the knowledge of the Phlegraean Fields Park, through surveys and 3D models, integrated by the use of different digital technologies, which together promote effective forms of communication between users and heritage. Each site becomes the node of a network of thematic routes, traced starting from the major attractions of the area and aimed at defining a hybrid landscape, made of in site visits and immersive digital experiences. The goal is to generate a new model of inclusive museum, configuring cultural relationships between physically distant places, between lost spaces and real ruins.
The Sanctuary BVMA in Pescara: AR Fruition of the Pre–Conciliar Layout
The project presented here is addressed to the documentation, the investigation of architectural values and their valorization through an application of Augmented Reality technologies enhanced by an AI based tracking application of the Sanctuary Basilica Madonna dei Sette Dolori (BVMA: Beata Vergine Maria Addolorata) in Pescara. The workflow foresees the use of the numerous images taken for the phases of photogrammetric acquisition of the artefact and images taken from the visualizations of the cloud of laser scanner points in order to carry out the “education” phase of the AI software (so that the program can store the greatest number of images for a self interpretative reconstruction of the geometries). The AI data will then be used as a tracking structure for the AR overlay of the digital model on real space, all through a webXR application usable from any device (HMD, desktop or mobile).