{"id":114877,"date":"2023-08-09T09:49:44","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T07:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diaridigital.urv.cat\/?p=114877"},"modified":"2023-10-18T09:51:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T07:51:20","slug":"digitisation-historical-objects-transforming-study-preservation-dissemination-cultural-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaridigital.urv.cat\/en\/digitisation-historical-objects-transforming-study-preservation-dissemination-cultural-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"The digitisation of historical objects is transforming the study, preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Universitat Rovira i <\/span>Virgili is leading<\/span> a change in the world of research and teaching by digitising cultural heritage in the Humanities. Digital twins are pieces of art or cultural heritage that are re-created digitally so that they can be studied, disseminated and preserved.<\/span><\/p>\n

This technology is transforming fields of study such as History, Art History and Archaeology. For this reason, URV degrees are already offering students the chance to develop these skills and open up new professional opportunities. They are now working with this 3D digitisation in a variety of methodologies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing technology closer to education<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Ignacio Fiz and Vanina Hofman, professors at the URV’s Department of History and Art History, photogrammetry is one of the techniques that can be used to create 3D models from photographs. This procedure has been used to digitise such features of heritage as archaeological sites and monuments. Students can capture the images themselves with their own cameras and the URV provides them with the software they need to transform the images into a 3D re-creation.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to photogrammetry, the URV has been acquiring other technologies, such as small laser scanners and virtual reality glasses, and also collaborates with the Giravolt project, an initiative of the Government of Catalonia to digitise Catalan cultural heritage and which makes high-end laser scanner technology available to institutions such as the National Museum of Archaeology of Tarragona (MNAT), with whom the URV often collaborates. This collaboration has made it possible to carry out projects such as the 3D digitisation of the early Christian necropolis.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Ignacio Fiz, the teaching of the humanities has benefitted from using these technologies, as students are trained for a job market in which they will have to work alongside digitisation. In this respect, there are two types of worker: on the one hand, graduates who join projects that already use these methodologies so they need technical knowledge to understand other professionals; and, on the other, graduates who are specifically trained as technicians. This is why in the academic year 2019-20 the URV’s degrees in History, History of Art and Archaeology started to use digital humanities as a research methodology to prepare students for professional opportunities in interdisciplinary teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aim of this experiential learning “is for students to enter into dialogue and collaboration with other professional profiles”, as “it is crucial that students be prepared to understand each other and work together with much more technical profiles.” They should also be given the chance to specialise in them if they wish, says Fiz.<\/span><\/p>\n

One example is the graduate Maria Merc\u00e8 Grau, who, as part of her final degree project, replicated 15 pieces in collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT). In addition to systematising and developing the process, her research analyses how they can be conserved, restored and disseminated by creating models for video games, 3D printing, architectural documentation, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other researchers such as Eva Subias, from the URV’s Department of History and Art History has been working with digital technologies at the Puig Rom site in Roses, Girona, where she uses drones for photogrammetry. These tools make it possible to document each work campaign and generate digital models that can be used to study, disseminate and preserve the heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n