This study proposes the realization of an Augmented Reality museum of mathematical-physical mod-els for distinctly educational purposes and capable of explaining mathematical and geometric princi-ples. Augmented Reality, in this context, would render them accessible while interacting with their digital twins would not endanger the preservation of the originals, and furthermore, comprehension would be enhanced thanks to the inclusion of explanatory contents. Following the teaching course proposed from our experience, it is possible to build the replica of one’s paper mock-up, thus giving pedagogical value back to the mathematical models otherwise precluded when musealized in a show-case or, worse, safeguarded in storerooms due to limited exhibition space. The first trials concern Max Brückner’s collection of polyhedra models, published in 1900 in Vielecke und Vielflache: Theorie und Geschichte, which offers the opportunity to evaluate the potentials of Augmented Reality to renew existence to a collection that is now lost.
Built Heritage Digital Documentation Through BIM-Blockchain Technologies
Despite rising digitisation, the construction industry continues to be marked by redundancy, multi-plication, and, at the same time, a lack of transparency and disaggregation of data and information, resulting in inadequate project life cycle management in terms of time, cost, and quality. This paper presents the results of the development of a TRL 4-5 ICT application based on the integration of Building Information Modeling and blockchain technologies, with the goal of fostering digitisation pro-cesses in the supply chain in the direction of greater information flow transparency, knowledge-based organizations, and decision-making processes based on unambiguous ordered data. The initiative, which began as a broader industry research cooperation, now includes a university spin-off, compa-nies that operate as system integrators, and leaders in the customisation of BIM solutions for the built heritage value chain.
Connecting AR and BIM:a Prototype App
This contribution discusses an ongoing project integrating information modeling and immersive tech-nologies for the built space, in particular augmented reality (AR). We examined tools and procedures to quickly recognize the equipment present on telecommunication network sites and access the cor-responding components on a digital information model. A first phase of the project, recently complet-ed, produced an app prototype for mobile devices capable of showing a 1:1 scale AR representation on-site. The project highlights current limitations and opportunities in making the interaction between AR and building information modeling (BIM) technologies fully scalable.
Collaborative BIM-AR Workflow for Maintenance of Built Heritage
The research proposes a BIM-AR workflow to ensure the monitoring of the built heritage.Indeed, the application of AR might be an extension of the BIM since it allows during the on-site surveys’ phases to add and update punctual information within the BIM model overcoming the tradi-tional survey methods based on cards. Consequently, the information models can act as collaborative tools at the service of public autorithies and stakeholders, thus supporting an efficient building man-agement, also from a preventive perspective. The research is a development based on the results of the Fondamenti di modellazione BIM per il settore delle costruzioni[1] academic course of the master’s degree course in Ingegneria Edile-Architettura [2] of the University of Padua. Starting from the students’ BIM models, the workflow exposes the integrability of the AR during the on-site survey campaigns of a case study to verify the geometric accuracy and the structural problematics of the BIM models overlapped to the real buildings by recording the information directly on them.
Multi-Level Information Processing Systems in the Digital Twin Era
The most challenging aspect of the scientific panorama linked to technological innovation is the search for possible connections between Representation, Man and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the complex ecosystem that defines a Digital Twin. Man plays a crucial role in facilitating communication processes both for the dissemination of knowledge and the accessibility and usability of content and for his ability to become a “sensor” and communicate information, feelings, emotions. The contribution proposes a cross-section of applications that link and decline Augmented Reality and AI differently according to a gradual scale shift from the artefact contained in a building overlooking an urban context of interest. The result is a multi-level information processing system derived from the three-dimensional matrix that links data collection, representation and visualisation techniques and tools with the cultural heri-tage – city, building, artefact – according to specific use cases.
Reliability in HBIM-XR for Built Heritage Preservation and Communication Purposes
In recent years, applied research and building information modelling (BIM) have been directed to the scan-to-BIM process by implementing increasingly high-performance methods capable of managing a large amount of data such as laser scans and high-resolution orthophotos and textured mesh models from digital photogrammetry (terrestrial and aerial). On the other hand, the digitisation process of built heritage and the paradigms of the “reliability” and “transparency” of HBIM models have not yet been wholly considered by the main international BIM standards. For that reason, this study proposes a method and the development of HBIM parameters capable of communicating heterogeneous val-ues to support the life cycle of the building, from the survey campaign to the restoration and mainte-nance of the asset. In this context, 3D modelling, HBIM, building archaeology, visual programming lan-guage (VPL) and extended reality (XR) have been directed to a scan-to-HBIM-to-XR method able to improve the information sharing of earthquake-damaged buildings such as the San Francesco church in Arquata del Tronto, moving from for different types of users, digital devices and virtual experiences.
IoT and BIM Interoperability: Digital Twins in Museum Collections
According to the 2017 International Council of Museums (ICOM) guidelines, data on museum col-lections must be stored in a secure environment, supported by backup systems that allow access by all legitimate users, complete and unique identification, and description (associations, provenance, condition, treatment and current location) of each object are required.Concerning these indications, it is therefore, a priority to establish precise protocols for the preven-tive conservation and analysis of data concerning not only the identity of the asset or the information collected during its study, but also how it is preserved.This paper proposes a digital framework for the management of museum structures and collections, integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodologies for the preservation and visualization of data with Internet of Things (IoT) methodologies for its collection and analysis.
Proposal for a Data Visualization and Assessment System to Rebalance Landscape Quality
The landscape can be considered a complex system described as a non-linear entity, organized accord-ing to the connections between the different elements that characterize its state. The latter cannot be determined a priori but emerges from the multiple interactions between assets and relationships that are no longer found when the phenomenon is traced back to the individual components. Territorial development is closely connected to social, economic, cultural and symbolic issues that determine the transformative practices of space and the territorial palimpsest. If not carefully managed, these forces can lead to the dissolution of the landscape and environmental values that have been stratified in a specific land. This paper proposes the construction of a numerical spatial model that describes the territorial settlement patterns, based on methodologies and techniques typical of AI, to develop tools for re-balancing the man-landscape relationship.
Interactive Information Models and Augmented Reality in the Digital Age
The construction industry in the digital era has seen significant changes in design, construction, and spatial process learning through new technological systems. These processes influence management and how data is collected, cataloged, and monitored using sensors and connected users. The real challenge that the digital era imposes on the society of the future is to define new secure and resilient digital models coupled with interoperable methods that minimize the impacts of our built heritage throughout its lifecycle. For these reasons, new models are being investigated to educate, gain detailed knowledge of places, design inclusive spaces that meet users’ needs and finally manage and maintain the built heritage. New technologies of Augmented and Virtual Reality support principals and users to define stable and interoperable relational processes. Although the challenge is ambitious, it is essential to find efficient solutions in governance policies for the city’s future.
Extended Reality (XR) and Cloud–Based BIM Platform Development
Extended reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for the digitization of cultural heritage are proving remarkably successful in different fields of application. The convergence of innovative methods, latest–generation technologies, and software applications for the representation, storage, transmission of tangible and intangible values of architecture, turn out to be increasingly decisive both in supporting the project’s needs of the professionals involved in the valorisation and management of the built cultural heritage and in enhancing the transmission of computer–generated perceptual information for all types of users (expert and non–expert). For those reasons, this article presents research focused on the development of an open–source cloud–based BIM platform and XR projects capable of sharing a knowledge process based on new levels of interactivity and digital creativity.