Document Tag: Digital Twin

Monitoring Systems Design with Real Time Interactive 3D and Artificial Intelligence

This paper presents a methodological framework for the design and simulation of monitoring systems for cultural heritage, integrating real-time interactive 3D environments and artificial intelligence techniques. The research focuses on preventive conservation, proposing a workflow that combines multiscalar digitization, semantic annotation, and AI-driven analysis to detect and predict the evolution of degradation phenomena.

The methodology is structured into three main phases: (i) detailed digital acquisition of the architectural artifact through integrated survey techniques (TLS, photogrammetry, and image-based methods); (ii) construction of an information-rich 3D model, semantically annotated and enriched with diagnostic data (thermal, material, and colorimetric); and (iii) simulation of monitoring systems within a real-time interactive environment using Unreal Engine 5. As illustrated in the workflow diagram (Fig. 1, p. 722), the system enables the placement of virtual sensors and the generation of synthetic datasets through simulated damage patterns. These data streams are used to train machine learning models for anomaly detection, which are integrated with natural language–based AI systems to support user interaction and decision-making. The results demonstrate the potential of combining digital twins, simulation environments, and AI to design and test monitoring infrastructures prior to on-site implementation, while highlighting the challenges related to data integration, model accuracy, and real-world validation.

Dataspace: Predictive Survey as a Tool for a Data Driven Design for Public Space

This paper proposes a data-driven methodological framework for the analysis, simulation, and design of public space through predictive survey techniques. The research integrates digital survey methods, big data acquisition, and artificial intelligence to construct a three-dimensional model capable of supporting decision-making processes in urban design. The approach is structured into four phases: historical and contextual analysis, morphometric data acquisition through photogrammetry and LiDAR, digital model construction, and predictive simulation.

The study develops a digital twin environment in which heterogeneous data—collected from field surveys, low-cost sensors, and human-generated sources—are integrated and analyzed. As illustrated in the workflow diagram (Fig. 1, p. 705), the system combines physical and digital datasets to simulate future scenarios and evaluate public space quality. The methodology incorporates both quantitative metrics and qualitative assessments based on Gehl’s criteria, enabling the interpretation of spatial use, environmental conditions, and user behavior. The results demonstrate that predictive survey, combined with IoT and machine learning techniques, can support the design of responsive and adaptive urban environments, while highlighting current limitations in data acquisition, integration, and systematization.

Measuring the Quality of Architecture. Serious Games and Perceptual Analysis Applied to Digital Reconstructions of Perugia Fontivegge Station Drawing Evolution

This paper investigates the use of virtual reality and serious games as tools for evaluating the perceptual quality of architectural spaces through user interaction analysis. The research aims to understand how built environments influence human perception by comparing immersive experiences in digitally reconstructed scenarios. The methodology is based on the creation of two virtual environments representing different design phases of the Perugia Fontivegge railway station: the current configuration and an unbuilt nineteenth-century project. As shown in the workflow (pp. 660–666), users explore these environments in VR while their movements, head orientation, and eye-tracking data are recorded. A computational process projects visual cones onto discretized 3D surfaces to generate heat maps that identify areas of visual attention. The results reveal both similarities and differences in spatial perception between the two scenarios, highlighting how architectural form influences orientation, focal points, and user experience. The study demonstrates that immersive simulations can support design evaluation, enabling the analysis of both existing and hypothetical spaces and opening new perspectives for data-driven architectural design and user-centered planning.

REWIND: Interactive Cognitive Artefacts for Lost Landmarks Rediscovery

This paper presents a methodological framework for rediscovering lost urban landmarks through web-based interactive cognitive artefacts that combine geolocation, 3D modelling, historical reconstruction, and gamified user interaction. The research focuses on the majolica domes of Naples, once distinctive elements of the historic skyline that were progressively transformed, hidden, or demolished through urban growth, earthquakes, and restoration interventions. Starting from archival documents, historical maps, iconographic sources, and survey data, the authors generate digital twins and level-of-information-oriented 3D models able to visualize changes across time. These models are then integrated into interactive platforms such as Google tools, CAD Mapper, Autodesk Infraworks, and panoramic tour systems, allowing users to compare past and present urban landscapes both remotely and in situ. The selected case study of the Church of SS. Apostoli demonstrates how users can virtually rewind time to observe successive transformations of the dome, including the loss of its lantern and majolica cladding. The research highlights the potential of low-cost digital tools, AR/VR applications, and immersive storytelling to strengthen cultural awareness, public participation, and the perception of urban identity.

VR and Holographic Information System for the Conservation Project

This paper presents an advanced digital workflow that integrates virtual reality and holographic visualization systems to support conservation planning and heritage management. The research addresses a common limitation in heritage digitization: although laser scanning and photogrammetry produce accurate 3D datasets, these models are often reduced to traditional 2D drawings, losing spatial richness and informational potential. To overcome this issue, the authors propose the direct use of point clouds enriched with semantic data, linked to a PostgreSQL database and visualized through immersive and collaborative environments. A VR application developed in Unity enables first-person exploration of the surveyed site, hotspot creation, and on-site compilation of conservation factsheets. In parallel, a Euclideon Hologram Table allows multiple users to inspect the same three-dimensional dataset simultaneously, facilitating collective analysis and project discussion. The methodology demonstrates how point clouds can become operative information systems rather than passive survey outputs. The study highlights the educational and professional value of combining accurate survey data, shared interfaces, and interactive visualization tools for heritage preservation, diagnosis, and reuse strategies.

Semantic 3D Models and Virtual Environments for Narrating and Learning the Heritage’s Cultural Contents

This paper investigates how semantic 3D models, virtual reality, and augmented reality can improve the communication and learning of architectural heritage through a human-centered design approach. Rather than focusing only on technological performance, the study emphasizes the cognitive relationship between users and digital space, proposing immersive environments that adapt to perceptual and educational needs. The research develops a digital twin capable of revealing not only visible architectural forms but also hidden semantic contents such as geometry, decorative systems, historical transformations, and spatial hierarchies. Through photogrammetric surveys, panoramic imaging, and simplified three-dimensional modelling, the author creates an interactive VR tour in which lighting, animation, color, and guided narration progressively direct user attention toward relevant elements. The methodology is tested through staged virtual experiences that support orientation, memorization, and emotional engagement. The study demonstrates that carefully designed immersive environments can reduce cognitive barriers, expand museum accessibility, and transform digital representation into an effective pedagogical tool for heritage interpretation.

Unquiet Postures. Augmented Reality in the Exhibition Spaces of Sculptural Bodies

This paper explores how augmented, mixed, and multimedia reality can transform the interpretation and exhibition of sculptural heritage in museum environments. Developed through a research project between Università Iuav di Venezia and the Regional Museum Directorate of Veneto, the study focuses on Greek and Roman statues preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Venice, many of which were altered by Renaissance restorations. Using digital photogrammetry and Structure from Motion workflows, the authors generated accurate digital twins of the sculptures, enabling the analysis of added limbs, reconstructed postures, and historical transformations. These models were then integrated into new exhibition scenarios including animated projections, responsive rotating pedestals, immersive storytelling rooms, and HoloLens mixed-reality holograms. The proposed installations enhance visitor engagement by revealing the hidden biographies of the statues, especially in cases of absence due to loans or restoration. The research demonstrates how interactive technologies can convert the museum into a hybrid learning environment where physical artifacts and digital replicas coexist to improve accessibility, participation, and historical understanding.

Salvatio Memoriae. Studies for the Virtual Reconstruction of the Medieval Sculptural Heritage

This paper investigates how digital technologies can support the preservation, interpretation, and public communication of fragmented medieval sculptural heritage through the creation of digital twins and augmented reality experiences. Developed within the MemId research project, the study focuses on the historical reuse of medieval sculpture during the Modern Age and examines how changing contexts altered the meaning, function, and perception of sculptural artifacts over time. The selected case study is the dismantled funerary monument of Cardinal Luca Fieschi in Genoa, today surviving as scattered fragments. Through close-range digital photogrammetry, Structure from Motion modelling, and metric analysis, the author creates a catalog of accurate 3D replicas used for historical reconstruction hypotheses and comparative research. These digital twins are then integrated into AR narratives and interactive puzzle-based experiences designed for museum visitors, enabling users to understand lost configurations and historical transformations. The research demonstrates how virtual reconstruction can combine scientific rigor, heritage documentation, and engaging public storytelling, helping medieval artifacts avoid a new form of oblivion.

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Vertical Dimension. The Virtual Reconstruction of the Rogers Lacy Hotel in Dallas

This paper investigates the unrealized Rogers Lacy Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Dallas in 1946 through historical research, digital reconstruction, and environmental simulation. Starting from original drawings, plans, sections, and perspective views, the authors develop a BIM-based three-dimensional model to analyze the architectural evolution of the project and its relationship with Wright’s broader ideas on skyscrapers and urban space. The study highlights how the design synthesized themes from earlier works such as St. Mark’s Tower, Price Tower, and the Romeo & Juliet windmill, while proposing an innovative glass curtainwall with translucent fiberglass insulation. The virtual reconstruction also places the building within the present-day urban context of Dallas and evaluates interior daylight performance through lighting simulations based on LEED-related criteria. Results show how digital modelling can reveal unresolved design inconsistencies, test hypothetical environmental behavior, and reassess an unbuilt project as a visionary contribution to twentieth-century vertical architecture.

LabInVirtuo, a Method for Designing, Restoring and Updating Virtual Environments for Science and Technology from Heterogeneous Digital Corpus

This paper introduces LabInVirtuo, a methodological framework for designing Realistic Sensory Intelligent Virtual Environments (RSIVE) dedicated to the preservation, study, and dissemination of scientific, technological, and industrial heritage. The project combines heterogeneous historical sources—such as archival documents, 3D scans, plans, oral testimonies, and semantic ontologies—to reconstruct interactive virtual environments where users can collaboratively explore past industrial settings. The system establishes a bidirectional link between a digital corpus and immersive environments, allowing both consultation and enrichment of knowledge through user interaction. Particular emphasis is placed on embodied experience, multisensory immersion, gesture capture, and conversational agents as tools for eliciting procedural memory and expert know-how. The approach is tested through several French industrial heritage case studies and aims to support research, education, preventive conservation, and public engagement.