Virtual Canova: a Digital Exhibition Across MANN and Hermitage Museums

The paper presents the results of a scientific collaboration between the Interdepartmental Research Center Urban/Eco of the University of Naples Federico II and the MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, National Archaeological Museum of Naples).The research activity was aimed to the digitisation, design, and development of an AR/VR-powered narrative experience regarding Antonio Canova’s statuary that is currently exhibited at the MANN, loaned by the Hermitage in St. Petersburg: Cupid, Hebe, Dancer, Cupid and Psyche, the Genius of Death and The Three Graces.The project is motivated by the will to realize an active example of a digital museum, where cultural and formative experiences related to the fruition of architectural and artistic artifacts can be relived over time, even when manufacts are not physically and/or temporally located in the space where the experience takes place.

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.

Semantically Annotated 3D Material Supporting the Design of Natural User Interfaces for Architectural Heritage

With the advent of artificial intelligence and natural user interfaces, the need for multimedia material that can be semantically interpreted in real time becomes critical. In the field of 3D architectural survey, a significant amount of research has been conducted to allow domain experts represent semantic data while keeping spatial references. Such data becomes valuable for natural user interfaces designed to let non-expert users obtain information about architectural heritage. In this paper, we present the architectural data collection and annotation procedure adopted in the Cultural Heritage Orienting Multimodal Experiences (CHROME) project. This procedure aims at providing conversational agents with fast access to fine-detailed semantic data linked to the available 3D models. We will discuss how this will make it possible to support multimodal user interaction and generate cultural heritage presentations.