Digitising our cultural heritage
Many of us would like to see great works of art like the statue of David by Michelangelo, but the journey to Florence and the long queues may put us off. A project has laid the foundations for digitising our cultural heritage so that we can see works of art on our computers.
We are used to the idea that our newspapers, cars and houses are designed digitally, using the latest software. However, the use of computers to help record and display our cultural heritage is still in its infancy.
EPOCH – Excellence in Processing Open Cultural Heritage – has brought experts in information technology together with museum curators, archaeologists, librarians and conservationists, to find common ground on digitising collections and artefacts.
Research on digital technologies can be used to help cultural preservation in many ways. One of the most basic is to create databases of information that allow those working in the cultural heritage sector to find comprehensive information easily. A system for effectively gathering information about paintings, sculptures, buildings and monuments makes it simpler for scholars to study them and curators to organise exhibitions.
Digital technology also has great potential to enhance the way that cultural artefacts are displayed. As broadband technology develops, so websites can now show not just photographs of artefacts, but also three-dimensional digital models of statues, ceramics and carvings.
EPOCH's researchers have developed a website in which digital photographs of an artefact can be turned into a 3D computer model which the viewer can rotate and examine.
Locally, the team has worked with the Brighton Fishing Museum to develop a computer game displayed on terminals inside the museum. This leads children on a hunt through the museum to get information needed to get them to the next stage of the game.
"We realised that there were gaps in understanding between computer specialists and people in the cultural heritage sector," said Professor David Arnold, who leads the research. "Those in cultural heritage were suspicious that information technology would not be able to deliver and computer specialists were frustrated at the caution of those in cultural heritage."
"We worked with both, bringing them together so that they could work more effectively together. We set up a network of centres which bring together experts from many fields to discuss the use of digital technology."
Professor Arnold, who is Dean of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Brighton, said his team had worked with the British Museum, the National Museums Scotland and Brighton Pavilion.
Find out more
Visit the EPOCH website.
