Page 157 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

The team, made up of archaeologists fromthe Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya and Ullastret, together with specialists in 3D model- ling, focused on providing a reconstruction based on the archaeological studies conducted to date in order to gain the closest possible idea of the Iberian site. They also sought to make the 3D model as visually realistic as possible by using photographs of real materials (soils, inner and outer walls, stones etc.) to recreate the di erent textures. The games engine Unreal Engine was chosen for this purpose – a well-known suite of tools used in video game design with signi cant potential for creating landscape settings owing to its highly photorealistic results.In 2016 an immersive room149 was installed. The idea was to project the images of the virtual reconstruction on all or just one of its walls in order to recreate a virtual 360-degree experience that was as realistic as possible.The audiovisual aid, which is available in Catalan, Spanish, French, English and German, features a story told by a member of the Iberian elite, who accompanies visitors on their virtual tour of the recreation of the site.Another application of this virtual recreation in a di erent type of immersive experience was recently presented at several heritage events. Visitors can use VR headsets such as Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear to explore the streets of the city or the interiors of homes more realistically.Marta Racconta. Storie Virtuali di Tesori NascostiSince 2014, the Museo Archeologico Nazio- nale di Taranto (MARTA) has been showing the results of the project Marta racconta - Storie virtuali di tesori nascosti,150 a virtual recreation of the ancient necropolis of the city of Taranto (Italy), where several monumental tombs dating from the fourth and second centuries BC were found.The project was produced by the IBAM CNR (Istituto per i Beni Archeologici e Monumentali) in collaboration with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Puglia, who were respon- sible for the 3D reconstruction of three of the Hellenistic hypogea from this necropolis.The aim was to make “accessible”, and provide knowledge of, some of the ancient city’s under- ground tombs through a virtual reality installa- tion that also featured some of the grave goods preserved in the museum. These virtual visits focused on three funerary complexes which, despite being preserved in situ, are di cult to access: the Tombe Gemine, the Ipogeo delle Gorgoni and the Tomba dei Festoni.A decisive factor in this process was the partici- pation of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the IBAM CNR in virtual reconstruction tasks. They took as a basis the archaeological studies conducted on the site, from which information on the architectural, material and decorative features of the tombs was extracted. All this documentation made it possible to improve the realism of the virtual reconstruction with respect to the accuracy of the colours of the mural paintings and facings – which are no longer extant but known thanks to research carried out to date – as well as to reconstruct burial rituals through iconographic comparisons of the depictions on the walls.The 3D audiovisual aid151 was projected in a stereoscopic viewing installation called Teatro Virtuale, in order to o er an immersive experi- ence with a “natural interface” navigation system whereby visitors could interact with the content by means of body movements, which activated the exploration of the monumental tombs.Courtyard outside the charterhouse of Valldecrist (Altura, Castellón)The former charterhouse of Valldecrist was a monastery founded in 1385 near AlturaAC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2017157The use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage