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Rome Transformed' is a five-year ERC funded research project that began in 2019 with the aim of developing an understanding of Rome and its place in cultural change across the Mediterranean world by mapping political, military and religious changes to the eastern Caelian from the first to eight centuries. The project has brought together a team of specialists in non-invasive methodologies for the investigation of complex modern urban environments. Beginning with extensive archival and bibliographic research, the project is conducting detailed structural analysis of all the standing monuments in the area. This includes structures such as the Aurelian Walls, the Claudio-Neronian aqueduct and the Sessorian Palace complex. A central component of these investigations is the high-resolution geophysical prospection of the study area which covers around 13.7km2 in central Rome. The use of these non-invasive methodologies in central Rome led to several challenges, in particular the significant topographical changes that have occurred since antiquity. To the west, underneath the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, nine metres of vertical stratigraphy are preserved, ranging from Republican houses at the lower level through to the Castra Nova of Septimius Severus and the Constantine Basilica. This paper, as well as presenting preliminary results of the geophysical surveys, will also discuss some of the solutions for geophysical prospection in complex urban environments. For the study of the Eastern Caelian, the collation of information regarding previous excavations has been fundamental, which has been greatly assisted by a collaboration with the municipal authority archaeological service and access to their ArcheoSITAR database.

The Engineering Department of the University of Perugia and the Architecture Department of the University of Florence have started a research project on the ancient city gates of Perugia, belonging to the Etruscan city, dating between the third and second centuries b.C., and to the subsequent city wall completed in the twelfth century. In this paper, focus is placed on three Etruscan gates - Porta Eburnea (also called Porta della Mandorla), Porta Cornea and Porta Trasimena – which have in common profound Middle Age transformations and further significant context changes following the loss of function as defensive walls. Due to the decommissioning of this urban infrastructure, the gates have assumed a marginal role; nowadays they are almost completely absorbed by residential buildings, almost losing the memory of their origins and of the important Etruscan remains that are still preserved in the gates. Geomatic surveys on the three Etruscan gates were carried out by the Geomatics Laboratory of Perugia University in the frame of a research project financed by the Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia Foundation. The survey was carried out by means of a coordinated use of more Geomatic techniques: GNSS, Total Station, Terrestrial LIDAR and Digital Photogrammetry. From LIDAR and photogrammetry were derived dense point clouds, beside CAD plans, sections and elevations. The information acquired with these detailed surveys provide a completely new and accurate documentary evidence of the gates’ consistency, allowing to identify the actions and interventions that have changed their structure over time.

Three-dimensional acquisition techniques, reality-based modelling and virtual reality are tools used in Digital Humanities prevalently for displaying the results of a study, but they can also suggest new methods of investigation to humanities scholars. In a case study regarding art history, these techniques made it possible to recreate the layout of the Sala di Saturno in Pitti Palace (Florence) in the 17th century, based on information obtained from archive documents on the tapestries designed for that hall and a 3D model expressly elaborated with geomatic techniques. The results were summarised in a video showed in 2019 during the exhibition on tapestries dedicated to Cosimo I de' Medici. A tool was also developed to assist exhibition and museum curators in their work. Through virtual reality, they can design temporary exhibitions or modify the display of the works of art in a museum in a realistic way, using visually and metrically accurate models of the pieces and exhibition rooms.

The paper deals with the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to the documentation and preservation of Archaeological Heritage. illustrating the implemantation process to a case study. The work process started from the historical analysis tighether with the geometric capturing of the built morphology. A 3D model was created by combining laser scans and a digital photogrammetric survey. To maka all 3D data sets interoperable, it was developed a BIM project execution plan focused on the restoration of Shipwreck Museum in the Kyrenia Castle in Cyprus. The HBIM approach not only allows ti represent the existing historic fabric with an effective visualization but also to lead a complex analysis of designed interventions in various scenarios. All the additional information besides the geometrical data were stored into the HBIM able ti document the manteinance and ti help the future works. It will be illustrated the procedure and the methodology by presenting the outcomes of the research.

Starting from the example of San Miniato al Monte, the essay dwells on the relationship existing between Florentine aristocracy and religious institutions. These were indispensable elements for the occupation of the urban ‘political space’, thanks to the social networks they controlled. Their political role – until now poorly investigated – was clearly recognised by the new ruling groups (Popolo). For this reason, the Florentine Popolo’s regime at the end of the thirteenth century tried to break the connection between aristocratic families and religious institutions, also through the use of precise rules that had become part of the Ordinamenti di Giustizia.

Abstract Research activity on ejectors is ongoing at the University of Florence since the late nineties. The most important achievement is a 40 kW ejector chiller designed according to the “CRMC” criterion. The experimentally validated CFD simulations have given some hints about some possible improvements, i.e. refine the surface finish of the ejector, study the effect of heat transfer and improve the final part of the diffuser, which in its present shape does not produce a measurable compression. The prototype has been recently filled with low-GWP refrigerant R1233zd, as a drop-in replacement of previously used R245fa. Both fluids are “dry-expanding” and hence significantly easier to model in CFD simulations. Synthetic low-GWP refrigerants may be an option for ejector chillers, due to their ability to reach below-zero temperature and high volumetric refrigerant capacity. Some lessons learned with synthetic refrigerants can be transferred to the project of a steam ejector chiller, which remains one of our future targets. Herein we resume the principal findings gathered by means of experimental and numerical activity on our prototype and propose a few ideas for the future research.

Technology and the fruition of cultural heritage are becoming increasingly more entwined, especially with the advent of smart audio guides, virtual and augmented reality, and interactive installations. Machine learning and computer vision are important components of this ongoing integration, enabling new interaction modalities between user and museum. Nonetheless, the most frequent way of interacting with paintings and statues still remains taking pictures. Yet images alone can only convey the aesthetics of the artwork, lacking is information which is often required to fully understand and appreciate it. Usually this additional knowledge comes both from the artwork itself (and therefore the image depicting it) and from an external source of knowledge, such as an information sheet. While the former can be inferred by computer vision algorithms, the latter needs more structured data to pair visual content with relevant information. Regardless of its source, this information still must be be effectively transmitted to the user. A popular emerging trend in computer vision is Visual Question Answering (VQA), in which users can interact with a neural network by posing questions in natural language and receiving answers about the visual content. We believe that this will be the evolution of smart audio guides for museum visits and simple image browsing on personal smartphones. This will turn the classic audio guide into a smart personal instructor with which the visitor can interact by asking for explanations focused on specific interests. The advantages are twofold: on the one hand the cognitive burden of the visitor will decrease, limiting the flow of information to what the user actually wants to hear; and on the other hand it proposes the most natural way of interacting with a guide, favoring engagement. Comment: accepted at FlorenceHeritech 2020

Abstract. This paper focuses on the implementation of new techniques for bathymetric inspections. The scope is the exploitation of sensors, usually and commonly used for navigation, namely the altimeter and the Forward Looking Sonar (FLS), for identifying objects which are laying on the sea floor. In this particular framework, the low spatial resolution and coverage of these sensors have been enhanced through the application of classical computational geometry. The altimeter and the FLS are part of the most common underwater navigation systems, and they are vastly mounted on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. Although they are not designed for this kind of accurate measurements and for 3D spatial reconstruction, they are quite cost-effective if compared with standard multibeam acoustic systems. Developing a technique for exploiting such an affordable low cost and widely used sensor will empower the Cultural Heritage community of users, giving a feasible opportunity to perform effective archaeological campaigns also within small funded projects.

Abstract. The present paper illustrates the documentation activities developed since 2013 on Upper Kama territories, preliminary to an extensive and joint research action within the European project “PROMETHEUS” (2019–2021), which aims to produce digitized databases and models for the management of the main religious monuments present on this Russian area, nowadays endangered by risk of conservation. The project is funded by the EU program Horizon 2020 – R&I – RISE – Research & Innovation Staff Exchange Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and it is aimed at the definition of inter-sectoral collaboration protocols for the development and promotion of a new methodology for the development of reliable 3D databases and models of monumental complexes in Upper Kama region. The project, that involves the collaboration between three Universities (University of Pavia, Italy, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Russia) and two enterprises (EBIME, Spain, SISMA, Italy), aims to promote actions to develop interdisciplinary activities for the documentation, management and production of collaborative H-BIM models, for the start-up of monitoring and development activities on this specific Cultural Heritage. Researches and initiatives conducted in the previous years on Upper Kama territory highlight potentialities and opportunities of digital survey to define a basis of knowledge that is both scientific and technical, for future interventions on endangered architectural heritage, where academies, companies and administrations promote actions to develop interdisciplinary documentation activities through collaborative management H-BIM models and an intervention protocol on Cultural Heritage.

Abstract. Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), benefiting from significant investments in the past years, are commonly used for military security and offshore Oil&Gas applications. The ARROWS project, aimed at exporting the AUV technology to the field of underwater archaeology, a low-budget research field compared to the previous ones. The paper focuses on the strategy for vehicle coordination adopted within the project, a Search and Inspection (S&I) approach borrowed from the defense field (e.g., mine countermeasure – MCM) that proved to be an efficient solution also for the main phases of an underwater archaeological mission. The other main novelty aspect is represented by MARTA (MArine Robotic Tool for Archaeology) AUV: it is a modular vehicle easily and quickly reconfigurable developed in the framework of ARROWS according to the project Archaeological Advisory Group (AAG) guidelines. Results from the final demonstration of the project, held in Estonia during Summer 2015, are proposed in the paper as an experimental proof of the validity of the proposed S&I strategy, and MARTA functioning and its adaptability to the mission requirements. Even in its first prototype version, MARTA successfully played the Inspection role within the AUV team, collaborating with a commercial Search AUV. Acoustic and optical data collected during the mission and processed to increase their intelligibility for the human operator are proposed and discussed.