Design of cultural heritage information systems based on information layers

Abstract

The information about cultural heritage artifacts that archeologists must manage is usually very heterogenous, and, due to its spatial nature, cannot be easily represented using conventional data management frameworks. The strong spatial dependence of this data suggests that the information should be linked to a 3D model of the artifact. This article presents a 3D information system that has been designed to manage cultural heritage information. The system allows information layers to be associated with the surface of the artifact, following an approach similar to that used in geographical information systems. This permits relationships between the different elements to be ascertained, and allows both specialists and the layperson to more easily understand the information. We describe here the structure and functionality of the system.

Effective Annotations Over 3D Models

“…These approaches do not fall in the broad category based on the selection of sub‐volumes (see Section 3), since the goal of the annotation is not to select the sub‐volume by itself, but to use a volume to individuate the corresponding portion of surface in 3D space. Again, different interpretations are possible: – Voxels enumeration : We directly select a subset of voxels using, for example, an octree and selecting specific nodes over the hierarchical structure [STLL13]; we are thus using a quasi‐raster approach. As surface elements are associated to those discrete cells, the relation is easily built. – Simple volumetric primitives : Elementary solid primitives (i.e.…”

“…Volumetric representations are used also to represent complex shapes, not only in the medical and in the biological domains but also for CH applications. An example of a system based on a volumetric representation is the CHiSEL system, supporting the documentation of artistic and restoration knowledge [STLL13]. CHiSEL starts from 3D scanned data (triangle meshes) and converts these data into a volumetric representation based on a classic octree structure.…”

“…a small region affected by some degradation process; an area with a bump related to a damage occurred to the shape of the object) and is linked to some metadata or to some information. In this case, most of the applications enable a user‐driven selection mechanism, since often the identification of those regions and the associated data heavily depend on the knowledge of a human expert and/or are the results of a visual analysis process [STLL13, MVdL16, ABC*18]. Some methods propose to use both semantic and user‐dependant selection [YH13] to link portions of objects.…”

Implementing Digital Cultural Heritage Map

“…Only the colors change slightly, denoting the change of functions. We also tried to create a layout as abstract as possible in the backend, respecting the fact that in interdisciplinary projects, content expert users may come from different fields, have various skills but have to contribute to the same platform [10]. This is exactly why we designed the layout to be friendly to regular users, "regardless of the agency they work for" [20].…”

“…Emerging technologies "support user collaboration" [25] on the same platform. As scientists from different skills cooperate [10], providing them the right interface is necessary [21]. System maintenance and security are also guaranteed.…”