Cultural heritage is increasingly put through imaging systems such as multispectral cameras and 3D scanners. Though these acquisition systems are often used independently, they collect complementary information (spectral vs. spatial) used for the study, archiving and visualization of cultural heritage. Recording 3D and multispectral data in a single coordinate system enhances the potential insi...

This paper is concerned with the evaluation and potential of IS for archaeology and cultural tourism. We call the support of cultural heritage communication with ICT “e-heritage systems” (e-HS). Many advanced ICTs are involved in cultural projects. In this paper we shall primarily focus on evaluating the a priori potential of e-HS for fully exploiting the communicative potential of ICT. This pa...

As definitions of heritage become increasingly fluid and wide reaching (Harvey, 2001), this chapter, informed by the literature on memory and identity, makes a return to the more traditional interpretations of heritage as a cultural product/ resource (with social and political functions) (Lowenthal, 1985; 1996). Widely accepted as the selective use of the past for contemporary purposes (Ashwort...

Is the loss of our Underwater Cultural Heritage accelerating? The term “underwater cultural heritage” (UCH) refers to all remnants of human activities lying on the seabed, on riverbeds, or at the bottom of lakes. It includes shipwrecks and artifacts lost at sea and extends to prehistoric sites, sunken towns, and ancient ports that were once on dry land but now are submerged due to manmade, clim...

Over the past thirty years, the concept of cultural heritage has been continually broadened. The Venice Charter (1964) made reference to “monuments and sites” and dealt with architectural heritage. The question rapidly expanded to cover groups of buildings, vernacular architecture, and industrial and 20th century built heritage. Over and above the study of historic gardens, the concept of “cult...

Exporting to cultural heritage methods and tools used in industrial areas, where the profits can justify high modeling costs, may only be a starting point for cultural heritage modeling, but not a sustainable solution in sight of the economics of this application. A way to lower the costs is to automate the modeling procedure. This work presents a robust procedure for the automatic alignment of...

Italy’s Cultural Heritage is the world’s most diverse and rich patrimony and attracts millions of visitors every year to monuments, archaeological sites and museums. The valorization of cultural heritage represents nowadays one of the most important research challenges in the Italian scenario. In this paper, we present a general multimedia recommender system able to uniformly manage heterogeneo...

In this paper we present the current status of semantic data management in the cultural heritage field and we focus on the challenges imposed by the multidimensionality of the information in this domain. We identify current shortcomings, thus needs, that should be addressed in the coming years to enable the integration and exploitation of the rich information deriving from the multidisciplinary...

Compensation measures are a new method for handling impact on cultural heritage in land use planning. The idea with compensation measures can be understood as an extension of the polluter pays principle. Today, compensation measures are mainly used when natural environments are damaged by development, but it is also possible to use compensation measures when a project results in negative impact...

A growing demand is felt today for realistic 3D models enabling the cognition and popularization of historical-artistic heritage. Evaluation and preservation of Cultural Heritage is inextricably connected with the innovative processes of gaining, managing, and using knowledge. The development and perfecting of techniques for acquiring and elaborating photorealistic 3D models, made them pivotal ...