We will talk about Virtual cultural heritage with Prof.ssa Anna Marotta. From the architecture faculty at the Politecnico di Torino.

“Virtual cultural heritage”: will be one of the central themes at DNAitalia. Can you briefly explain what it is?

Among the activities of the PhD in Cultural Heritage of “SCUDO” (Doctorate School of Politecnico di Torino) there was a seminar on "Virtual Cultural Heritage". This seminar took place on 29th and 30th September 2010 at the Valentino’s Castle and was proposed and coordinated by me, in collaboration with my research team on interactive digital representation. The course provided a fully organized program on the theme of three-dimensional representation. In the last three years, in Turin, my own research facility has organized conferences and courses of academic excellence that involved many professors, researchers, PhD students and university students from a variety of Italian universities. The common focus of all the aforementioned courses was the theme of communication, addressed through the use of 3D tools. These tools were used to form the hypothesis for virtual reconstruction (3D models), as well as addressing how to make it available to the user (stereoscopic vision devices, actually virtual and augmented, etc..). Among other things, communication for scientific and disclosing purposes, along with research (3D laser scanning, photogrammetry, 3D, etc..) and the compilation of historical data (excavation data, metrics, iconography, etc..) represent the disciplinary body of Virtual Cultural Heritage. This is an operational and production area, which in recent years has been recognized as a useful and symbiotic method to augment the traditional methods, currently established in archaeological research.

How important are these technologies in the field of cultural heritage?

These technologies are essential, as long as there is some identifiable innovative potential, such as the ability to align cultural roots with the knowledge of the past, which is especially important for visual culture. The variety and articulation of these technologies and their potential applications are well suited to the complex nature of cultural heritage, which can be defined in terms of its nature as well as its substance. These tools, applied in this field, offer numerous opportunities, which can range from cataloging to the displaying of objects, which, for many different reasons, might not be possible to display. However all of these possibilities can be summarized in the following three functional categories: 1. assisting the systematic gathering, organization and use of a vast quantity of varied data; 2. enabling the cross-thematic use of this information, which would otherwise not be possible, thus assisting a broad and deeply critical analysis, and finally 3. ensuring a broad range of usage creating a differentiated return to the user. With the help of these technologies it can be easier to picture thoughts, critically compare them in each of their possible forms and synthesize and communicate them. You can also address targets, which are otherwise unreachable, broadening the reach of cultural diffusion. This includes making it understandable to different age and education groups, providing an unrivaled presence in society. This enables the widespread communication of a common culture, thus allowing previously excluded groups to make their contribution to the construction of shared knowledge, through the help of digital infrastructure. By using these technologies in this way we can enable a more conscious knowledge of cultural heritage, which will establish itself as a cultural asset.

During last year edition of DNAitalia, the conference dedicated to these topics was a success. What is on the programme for this year?

The contents of the new seminar will aim to communicate the current trends of architectural design in its formal expression. The current tendency is for the automatic action of the computer to contaminate the mind of the designer, as this automatic action is designed to enhance the visual relationship with the surroundings and the existing landscape. This relationship calls into question the role of the computer in terms of the level of control that the designer wants to / can keep of the work. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between the natural and man-made environment, which in its most artistic, creative and communicative manner, represents a truly multicultural dimension.

DNAitalia is the right framework within which to promote the knowledge of these instruments, because it is the only event in which there is, for the first time, a confrontation of the world of culture and design with the world of finance and economics. Which actors / bodies should become more sensitive towards this topic?

Given the highly scientific profile of the mission of DNAitalia, I believe that the actors / bodies, which ought to be more aware of this issue are the Superintendent, university faculties that teach communication,  Departments of Culture and other government departments. Amongst private sponsors, we should not only consider banking institutions, but also museums, institutions of preservation (such as archives and libraries) and publishers that want to integrate their tangible media with digital services.

The video-interview with Prof. Anna Marotta