Maurizio Forte
Professor
School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Office Phone:
Email: mforte@ucmerced.edu
My scientific activity has been focused on a multidisciplinary approach to the development of virtual heritage. This work has goal of integrating technology with field work data from cultural heritage sites. I define “virtual heritage” as the digital information that is derived from a physical site, whether it is an object, monument, territory, or landscape. On the other side, World Heritage is an emerging interdisciplinary area that includes architecture, history, archaeology, art history, geography, anthropology, planning, law, and other disciplines. The bridge between global and virtual heritage is constituted by the information process: we communicate what we perceive and learn; the ontology of information is much more important than the technological aspect, because it concerns the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary transmission. In this sense, “virtual heritage” can be said to be an ontology of cultural heritage. It represents more than the physical item because it is able to contextualize the global heritage. This information must be processed both by computer programs but also, and more importantly, by our perceptions, interpretations, knowledge and finally communicated through dissemination.
The research in which I am most involved starts with the reconstruction of archaeological and ancient landscapes in a virtual format. This has meant working with digital technologies such as 3d documentation, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial technologies and open software WEB-VRGIS. Having created a virtual recreation, my efforts are then directed to the epistemology of this form of presentation, one aspect of eco-anthropological thinking. More specifically, this type of research begins with fieldwork and a post-processing activity after returning to the laboratory. The data have been collected through use of laser scanning, photomodelling, photogrammetry, DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System), spatial technologies, movies, and traditional archaeological documentation. The subsequent processing involves the input of the data into 3-d and creating a virtual space which presents the data in geo-spatial form. Once these steps are completed, the following procedures construct objects, models, avatars and simulations. In this way, the virtual heritage is available to the user for real time interaction and navigation. Key words: virtual heritage, world heritage, landscape, environment, archaeology, ecology of mind.
School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Office Phone:
Email: mforte@ucmerced.edu
Research Interests:
My scientific activity has been focused on a multidisciplinary approach to the development of virtual heritage. This work has goal of integrating technology with field work data from cultural heritage sites. I define “virtual heritage” as the digital information that is derived from a physical site, whether it is an object, monument, territory, or landscape. On the other side, World Heritage is an emerging interdisciplinary area that includes architecture, history, archaeology, art history, geography, anthropology, planning, law, and other disciplines. The bridge between global and virtual heritage is constituted by the information process: we communicate what we perceive and learn; the ontology of information is much more important than the technological aspect, because it concerns the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary transmission. In this sense, “virtual heritage” can be said to be an ontology of cultural heritage. It represents more than the physical item because it is able to contextualize the global heritage. This information must be processed both by computer programs but also, and more importantly, by our perceptions, interpretations, knowledge and finally communicated through dissemination.
The research in which I am most involved starts with the reconstruction of archaeological and ancient landscapes in a virtual format. This has meant working with digital technologies such as 3d documentation, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial technologies and open software WEB-VRGIS. Having created a virtual recreation, my efforts are then directed to the epistemology of this form of presentation, one aspect of eco-anthropological thinking. More specifically, this type of research begins with fieldwork and a post-processing activity after returning to the laboratory. The data have been collected through use of laser scanning, photomodelling, photogrammetry, DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System), spatial technologies, movies, and traditional archaeological documentation. The subsequent processing involves the input of the data into 3-d and creating a virtual space which presents the data in geo-spatial form. Once these steps are completed, the following procedures construct objects, models, avatars and simulations. In this way, the virtual heritage is available to the user for real time interaction and navigation. Key words: virtual heritage, world heritage, landscape, environment, archaeology, ecology of mind.