Digital Heritage 2018 3rd International Congress & Expo

Illumination of Material Culture Symposium (II)
Friday 26th October 2018; Digital Heritage Congress 2018

1:30pm
Introduction (Graeme Earl, Ashira Loike, Carla Schroer and Anna Serotta)
This symposium provides a follow up to the two-day symposium with the same name organized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in March 2017, that was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI).  see (https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/conservation-and-scientific-research/projects/rti- symposium)

1:40pm
A wish list for computational photography (Graeme Earl)
Since the first symposium I have been reflecting on the fascinating developments in the area of computational photography described there. In this very short talk I will identify three areas where I hope for translation and innovation in graphics and human computer interaction research.

1:45pm
Integrating Multispectral Imaging, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), and Photogrammetry for Archaeological Objects (Chantal Stein)
At the last symposium we showed how we combined RTI and photogrammetry to study tool marks on a marble fragment from Sardis. In this second case study we additionally combine MSI to study paint application on an Egyptian wood sarcophagus fragment, with some discussion about bias and object narratives.
[Presented via pre-recorded video]

2:00pm
Practical Applications for Integrating Spectral and 3D Revisited (E. Keats Webb)
This presentation will build on the work described in 2017 and provide an introduction to the author’s recent work on improved image-based 3D reconstruction. It focuses on wavelength and sharpness, and the use of a modified digital consumer camera as a scientific tool for conservation documentation.

2:15pm
When multiple lighting angles reflect on translucent stone surfaces: some issues for the MLR imaging technique (Hendrik Hameeuw & Vincent Vanweddingen)
Even for translucent and close to transparent stone objects Multi-Light Reflectance imaging methods produce good interactive datasets. Nonetheless, when the results are assessed in detail, issues on the correct estimations of the relief pop up. This presentation will discuss these issues.

2:30pm
Journeys between 3D and 2D (Mark Mudge)
This talk discusses 2D outputs from 3D data, and show Digital Elevation models from paintings, including the Diego Rivera mural gold leaf icons from Albania.

2:45pm
A New Web RTI Viewer for Collaborative Scholarship and Public Engagement (Taylor Bennett)
The University of Oxford's Departments of Archaeological Science, Computer Science, and the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents in the Faculty of Classics are collaborating with MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) to develop an open-source web-based viewer for Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) files. The Oxford web RTI viewer provides layers for drawing and annotation for collaborative scholarship, and allows recording the viewer settings, such as light angle and rendering parameters. The web RTI viewer is being developed as part of an effort to crowd-source the epigraphy of Roman stylus writing tablets from the 1st century AD that were discovered in London between 2010-2014.

3-3:30pm Coffee Break

3:30pm
Sharing Conservation research with the public at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (Sarah Barack, Jessica Walthew, Chris Gauthier, Adam Quinn and Nolan Hill)
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum recently completed the conservation and technical study of an elaborate ormolu Surtout de Table (table centerpiece) made ca. 1805, designed by Pierre Philippe Thomire. The work is the centerpiece of the exhibition “Tablescapes” at Cooper Hewitt (October 2018- April 2019). Conservation treatment included an overall cleaning that revealed contrasts of matte and shiny surface textures which we documented with RTI. We also 3d laser scanned two of the components to compare their shapes more precisely, suspecting that one is a surmoulage (a replacement part cast off of an existing part, rather than using the original molds). We worked with Taylor Abscher at NYU's Laguardia studio and were able to scan the shiny reflective surfaces effectively without any temporary applied surface coating using the Faro Edge (a blue light laser scanner). In the gallery, a touchscreen digital kiosk allows visitors to learn more about the conservation work with a short video on the overall conservation treatment, produced by our in-house videographer. In addition, our digital developers created an interactive display with both the RTI files and the 3d scans. This project required collaboration for the successful dissemination of technical research. Collaborating with our digital and video teams, we are able to share conservation imaging research in the exhibition and we are working on the launch of a Conservation channel to showcase this work also in online formats.
[Presented via pre-recorded video]

3:45pm
The Digital Lab Notebook (Carla Schroer)
A lot has happened in the development of the DLN tools since the first symposium. This talk introduces the recently released beta tools and plans for additional development.

4:00pm
Recalibrating the museum: the digital/ physical repatriation of Te Hau-Ki-Turanga. (Brinker Ferguson)
3D imaging work at the Museum of New Zealand and indigenous data sovereignty.

4:15pm
Galvanizing Digital Preservation Using Crowdsourced, Community-Based Efforts in Endangered Regions (Scott Purdy)
Through recent efforts in Venezuela, Syria, and with Native American tribes throughout North America, the Arc/k Project demonstrates what can be achieved via remote teaching of local citizen scientists inside their own communities.

4:30-5:00pm
Discussion
Followed by planning of Illumination of Material Culture Symposium (III).

In a 2016 Archivaria article, “From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in Archives,” Michelle Caswell and Marika Cifor posed a challenge to the archival profession calling for a shift from an archival ethics grounded in an individual, rights-based model to a feminist ethics of care model. In a feminist ethics approach, archivists are conceptualized as caregivers, bound to records creators, subjects, users, and communities through a web of mutual affective responsibility based on radical empathy. This panel examines how taking up such an ethical approach reshapes archival projects that employ digital technology for documenting, conserving, and sharing the cultural heritage of marginalized communities in the U.S. A feminist ethics approach calls for archivists at every step of a project, from platform design to digitization to curation, to rethink what ethical relationships between records creators, subjects, users, and communities, as well as other cultural heritage professionals, looks like. We argue that these relationships should recognize, challenge, and redress structural power inequities.

Each of the panelists, from their positions as archival scholars and practicing archivists, illustrates how such an ethical shift reshapes their work.

In her paper, Michelle Caswell utilizes as a case study the South Asian American Digital Archive’s attempts to document Islamophobia to point to the importance of centering privacy, trust, and empathy when working with targeted communities.

Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez’s presentation examines her recent transition to the University of California, Irvine’s Special Collections and Archives. She charts how the tremendous diversity of that campus and its archival initiatives is reshaping her archival practice, including how through support for her colleagues work she extends an understanding of ethics to relationships between archivists.

Dinah Handel’s talk addresses how an ethic of care informs her negotiation of community-based audio-visual digitization projects, including her work with the XFR Collective and the queer experimental film festival MIX.

Finally, Marika Cifor analyzes community-based arts organization Visual AIDS’ digitization of its records documenting the work of artists living with HIV and AIDS for access and preservation. She highlights concerns around privacy and disclosure, expands understandings of preservation, and exposes the complexities of ongoing relationships with records creators and subjects in digital spaces.

Together these talks illustrate how a feminist ethics approach enables culturally situated, mutually dependent, ongoing relationships to be built and sustained between the diverse stakeholders of digital archival projects. Following presentations from the panelists, attendees and speakers will participate in small-group conversations focused on the application of feminist ethics as a theory and practice within their work.

Please join us for three diverse presentations, followed by an interactive discussion on the present and future of 2D and 3D standards for digital cultural heritage:

Stuart Snydman (Stanford University), will introduce the International Image Interoperability Framework (http://iiif.io), a global initiative that has successfully built an open standards technology framework for the delivery of 2D images on the web, and is now exploring the prospects of 3D data interoperability.

Tassie Gniady (Indiana University), will present on Community Standards for 3D Data Preservation (http://gis.wustl.edu/dgs/cs3dp/), a national leadership grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services that is tackling the complex problem of developing standards and best practices for the preservation of 3D data.

Franco Niccolucci (Univ of Florence), will reflect on the influence of the London Charter, and major European efforts to collect and integrate 3D datasets, such as 3D Icons (http://3dicons-project.eu/) and ARIADNEplus (http://www.ariadne-infrastructure.eu/).

The aim of this Special Session roundtable is an interdisciplinary approach of the complex phenomenon that takes place during aesthetic perception, to explore the response of the human cognitive system to aesthetic perception, with the objective of contributing a transdisciplinary methodological approach for the fruition and transmission of the cultural heritage.

It is focused on analysis of the observer's capacity to enter into contact with the work of art through the sensory channels and how this relation can also be augmented through the use of multimedia technologies modulated in line with contemporary scientific approaches. To consider how the contact between visitor and art- can be subjected to an impact analysis based on a protocol combining quantitative and qualitative data, to improve the effectiveness of the design strategies related to museum layout and multimedia technologies.

Format: roundtable

Perla Gianni Falvo’s focus on the psycho-social impact in the perception of environment has guided all her work, from designing TV sets to designing museum exhibitions. Her interdisciplinary approach to the mysterious relationship between human beings and their art, essential and eternal, is the driving theme behind her research.

Massimo Bergamasco has founded PERCRO in 1991. He is Full Professor of Applied Mechanics at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and he is Director of the Institute of Communication, Information and Perception Technologies of the School.
He leads the research group on Mind Sciences.

Valeri Manera brings to the table the knowledge and experience gained from a distinguished career in finance as well as a profound love of and familiarity with the fine arts. Over the years his growing interest in human sciences and perception led him to question the effectiveness of the traditional ways exhibitions have been organized and visual arts have been presented to the public.

While sustained investment in digital resources for the documentation and management of cultural heritage (CH) has created information systems of value in local contexts for the management, curation and research of CH assets over time, this work - even when done to the best of standards - is often under-used in terms of its exposure to a broader audience both of researchers and the public for re-use and further investigation. Semantic data technologies and facilitating ontologies (conceptual models) such as CIDOC-CRM make possible the creation of linked open data sets which have the capacity both to make data more accessible long term and to enable specific research goals amongst researchers and institutions across borders. Cutting edge institutions and research projects are adopting semantic strategies and using or building semantic tools in order to make such a vision a reality. This being said, the ideas of the semantic web and the use of formal ontologies for modelling and sharing information retain a reputation for difficulty to use in the broader Cultural Heritage community. This session will gather CH and semantic technology specialists from a broad spectrum of institutions who are practically working with and building semantic data in order to present their work but also their vision for the use of semantic technologies in the near and long term. Panelists will present individually and then participate in a round-table discussion open to public participation in order to explore the possibilities of connecting CH data semantically.


Part 1. CRM and Tools for Implementation



The Arches Cultural Heritage Data Management Platform: A case study in developing a semantically-enabled system for cultural heritage inventories and beyond
Annabel Lee Enriquez, Getty Conservation Institute
This talk will explore how the Arches Cultural Heritage Data Management Platform lowers the barrier to implementing the CIDOC-CRM by integrating semantic ontology definition into its interface-driven process of dynamically creating databases. 

The Digital Lab Notebook (DLN) a semantically-enabled metadata toolkit for the computational photography techniques of photogrammetry and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)
Carla Schroer, Cultural Heritage Imaging
This talk will describe new open source software tools for collecting and managing metadata, and validating image sets used in the creation of digital representations. The semantic mapping and Linked Open Data is all “under the hood” so the user doesn’t need to know anything about them.
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Mapping and Integrating Datasets to CIDOC CRM with the 3M Data Mapping Tool
George Bruseker, ICS-FORTH
This talk will outline the 3M tool for creating data mappings to CIDOC CRM and how it can fit into an overall semantic and/or linked open data management strategy.


Part 2. CRM for Academic Research in CH

Using CIDOC CRM Tools for Advanced Research
Anais Guillem, University of California Merced
This talk will present how CIDOC CRM can be used to support research using semantic data using the case study of architectural data and ontological modeling of Julia Morgan’s architectural designs.


Modeling building archaeology information with CIDOC-CRM and its extensions
Paola Ronzino, PIN, Polo Prato
The talk will explore the potentiality of CIDOC-CRM and its extensions in addressing the issues related to building archaeology. The case study presented will highlight the specific aspects related to Amphitheaters, a particular type of buildings which have been altered in both their form and function over the centuries.


Part 3. The use Semantic Data and the CRM in and for CH Memory Institutions

A View to the Future: Artefacts Canada in a linked data world?
Sheila Carey, Canadian Heritage Information Network
This talk will discuss plans to create a linked open data environment for Artefacts Canada, a Canadian museum collections information repository. The talk will review two test projects using the CIDOC-CRM, lessons learned from those projects and the goals for moving forward.
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The CIDOC CRM Game as teaching and learning tool
Anais Guillem, UC Merced
George Bruseker, FORTH
This talk will address the question of how to make the CIDOC CRM accessible to CH professionals, researchers and other parties interested in semantic data but unfamiliar with the CRM in particular or ontologies in general.
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Re-thinking CRM: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Franco Niccolucci, PIN, Polo Prato
The CIDOC CRM is a project that has reached maturity over 20 years of dedicated research and development. As it enters the majority as a standard alongside a boom in interest in semantic data, it’s time for the standard to assume its role and responsibility in the semantic community. The talk will discuss how to manage this transition.


Part 4. Round Table Discussion
Following the speakers’ presentations, the floor will be open for discussion around the effective use of CIDOC CRM for implementing semantic integration for digital cultural heritage. The discussion panel will be open to questions from the audience.