objectives

We want to support digital capabilities of the higher education sector and stimulate innovative learning and teaching practices.
For those reasons we would like to achieve the following specific goals:

– Define applicable standards (documentation) and methods and common language/understanding (glossary) for the construction/evaluation of 3D models CVCH (Computer-based Visualisation of Architectural Cultural Heritage)

– Create a Repository of 3D models of CH (infrastructure for applying the standards and methods)

– Disseminate the CoVHer ideas in the academic and public world of CH.

The main specific objective of the project is to define applicative/practical guidelines and operational methodologies aimed at the study, the implementation, the visualization (including access), and the critical evaluation of the 3D models of artefacts that no longer exist or have never been built, in accordance with the Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage (UNESCO, 2003). The aim is to define a clear methodology for the creation and documentation of the CVCH model.
The innovation of the proposed methodology lies in identifying practice guidelines and outlining the precise qualities that the 3D model must fulfil to reach scientific reference standards:

1) Constructive aspects: the geometry accuracy and qualification of the 3D models.

2) Traceability: use of sources, as well as documentation and quality of historical reconstruction.

3) Accessibility: compatibility with the publication on platforms/repositories. Interoperability: Data model exchange formats.

4) Visualization: graphic output to communicate scientific content throughout the 3D models.

To describe these qualities, a detailed reference Glossary will be written up. One of the critical issues of the current situation is the lack of a shared vocabulary referred to as hypothetical virtual 3D reconstruction.
Furthermore, a digital repository will be developed to enhance the transmissibility of these models. Currently, there are several internet platforms or projects (i.e., Inception-project Horizon 2020 https://www.inception-project.eu/en) with digital collections of the European architectural heritage. The innovation of our digital repository consists of being entirely dedicated to artefacts that have never been built or have been destroyed. The truly innovative and important aspect, compared to the existing platforms, will be how these three-dimensional models will be “presented” to experts and the public (Open Access). The goal is to create a digital 3D repository that can transmit, together with the finished product (3D model), also the essential information for the critical evaluation of the work. The platform, therefore, will have two different and complementary vocations. The first is being a reference place for scholars (architects, engineers, art historians, archaeologists, and other field experts) where they can share, download and study 3D reconstructions and the sources used to build them, with the emphasis on scientific correctness. The second is being a public repository accessible to laypersons (non-experts) and will contribute to the valorisation of the European architectural and cultural heritage.
Finally, the dissemination activity in the academic world and in the public world is an important goal of this project. The CoVHer project targets are the students and scholars of architecture, engineering, archaeology, restoration, history of art, professionals of CH and the public. Among the objectives is to create teaching modules of university courses dedicated exclusively to the virtual reconstructions of CH.
Raising awareness among the academic world and the public on the possibility of scientifically reconstructing the past, through virtual reconstructions, is a way to increase the cultural and social cohesion of European citizens.