The course of Performative Techniques in Visual Arts (2020-21 edition) at Libera Accademia d’Arte Novalia revolved around a project which saw students actively involved in the promotion of a local heritage site: the Precettoria (Abbey) of Sant’Antonio di Ranverso (Province of Turin). Despite its cultural relevance this site is little known, although the last few years saw an intense campaign for the promotion and restoration of the complex. The project completed during the course is part of this effort and the management of the site has been involved in its completion.
Advanced Practices of Augmented Reality: the Open Air MuseumSystems for the Valorisation and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage
This paper aims to explore the broad topic concerning the use of virtualization technologies in order to earn knowledge of the cultural heritage and it’s dissemination. The activities aimed to develop the use of these advanced technologies, in the archaeological and architectural heritage promotion, are constantly evolving. This is the case for the museum fruition, that was confined to places of conser-vation and contemplation until a few years ago, but now exportable to whole urban sites (open air museums) thanks to the support of the virtuality that introduce to immersive learning paths. Very important resources in the cultural heritage valorisation process are the fruition improvement and the active involvement of the guest through the use of immersive paths, both pedestrian and vehicular.
Prosthetic Visualizations for a Smart Heritage
The development of ICT has favoured the spread of real–time, pervasive and ubiquitous applications. In particular, VR and AR visualizations allow a close interrelation between people, data, environments and objects. Consequently, it is possible to enrich cultural heritage with information by visually superimposing multimedia content, in absolute respect of their physical consistency. In this way, it is possible to create a ‘smart heritage’ dimension that combines the potential of the ‘Phygital’ with the protection and enhance-ment of assets often characterized by important elements of fragility. An important role is played by AI applications, which automatically direct the processes of ‘Interpretation’ and ‘Presentation’ of the heritage. Based on the experience of the 3D reconstruction of the no longer existing Baroque configuration of the Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila, aim of the paper is a theoretical–methodological reflection on the concept of VR / AR / MR for cultural heritage.
Saint Nicholas of Myra. Cataloguing, Identification, and Recognition Through AI
This research elaborates a strategy to guide users and scholars in the Byzantine iconographic world, highlighting the elements that contribute to recognizing the sacred figures represented [2]. It devel-ops two visual approaches: on the one hand, the recognition of faces through a database; on the other hand, the use of artificial intelligence for face recognition. The results of the research can be applied to the development of content for new media edutainment; for the digital restoration of the frescoes; for the communication and enhancement of the asset itself.
Making the Invisible Visible: Virtual/Interactive Itineraries in Roman Padua
PD–Invisible aims to enhance the archaeological heritage of Padua hidden by urban development. The focus of the process is the creation of an adaptive AR App according to the type of user: professionals and researchers on the one hand and cultural tourism on the other. The workflow identifies a path through the city and connects the artifacts studied by the research; catalogue historical and archival documents; detects the structures through laser scanning and photogrammetry technologies; opti-mizes the acquired models both from a graphic point of view and through Scan to BIM; develops the AR App in Unity 3D. The research offers further insights assuming the use of artificial intelligence for this type of applications: differentiate the contents of the App according to the user’s preferences by comparing the GPS data with those of the detection devices (camera and Lidar).
Studies for the Virtual Reconstruction of the Terme del Foro of Cumae
Resuming the cognitive process started in a previous study of integrated survey and interpretation of the remains of the Terme del Foro of Cumae in the Parco Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei, with this contribution, we intend to set up, a methodology to deepen the investigation already carried out on the current consistencies of the thermal system that, through the preparation of a suitable neural network managed by AI processes and structured for the systematic analysis of differences, is able to formulate reconstructive hypotheses with scientific authority.By integrating the possibilities of traditional methods of investigation on architectural and archaeolog-ical heritage, it will be possible not only to highlight what can be directly observed in situ, but also to enhance traces that are not immediately decodifiable and even latent, automatically emerging as the results of comparative investigations on large amounts of data whose logical structure will be clearly traceable along artificial neural ‘meshes’ similar to human cognitive processes.
Digital Tools at the Service of Public Administrations
Competitions for ideas for architecture have always been sources of stimulus and research, paving the way for innovative projects that have also guaranteed an economic flow and a naturally consequent social response.The municipality of Rome, years ago, was the architect of a campaign of this type: the Cento Piazzeproject included, for the first time, a number of competitions and projects that had never been ad-dressed by a national and international administration.Our intervention aims to reflect on how and to what extent the Public Administration can now benefit from new technologies and digital tools for the analysis and survey of architecture and pub-lic space. These innovations, in fact, now make it possible to provide design with a valid help in the preparation of competitions that increasingly concern urban regeneration at an international level.
The Appearance of KeplerianPolyhedra in an Illusory Architecture
The illusion of ancient frescoes takes on a new form through the methods offered by digital technol-ogies. This contribution deals with the representation of a geometric solid in the decoration of the Room of Leda in Palazzo Balbi Senarega in Genoa: this is the small stellated dodecahedron described by Johannes Kepler in 1619. An in–depth documentary and iconographic research has allowed us to prove that this is the first perspective representation of this solid which took place about thirty–five years after its discovery. The aim is to investigate and illustrate in a communicative, but not simplifying way, the connections between an example of Genoese decoration and the wider seventeenth–cen-tury milieu, which features artists, scientists, and generous patrons with their unsung brides.
Augmented Reality and the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage: the Case of Palazzo Mocenigo in Padua
Da palazzi nobiliari a sedi universitarie: nuovi modelli di studio e rappresentazione del patrimonio architet-tonico dell’Università di Padova is the large project which includes the study presented. The aim of the research is to investigate the virtual methods of access and enhancement of the Palazzo Mocenigo Belloni Battagia in Via Sant’Eufemia in Padua. The use of ICT (Information and Communications Tech-nology) is increasingly applied in the cultural heritage sector, especially in the context of museums, in order to increase their inclusiveness and raise the level of use. By exploiting these technologies and applying them to the case at issue, we will try to give visitors the opportunity to virtually see a building closed to the public. Inside Palazzo Mocenigo preserves precious frescoed halls, dating back to the Renaissance period in which the building was one of the major cultural centers of Padua.
The Value of a Dynamic Memory: from Heritage Conservation in Turin
The proposed contribution is the start of a research project on the conservation and care of the memory of urban contexts that are changing and that, while changing, it is desirable to preserve trac-es of past evolutions. These are particular areas of study, characterised by significant values that need to be known and passed on. Since the beginning of this year, the research group has been dealing with significant experimental cases. On this occasion, some quick elaborations and prefigurations of documentary integration with the existing heritage will be presented for the case of the Borgo Crocetta nursery school building in Turin.