Articles by Paolo Salonia

Cloud Manager v1.0 is a web ASP application for basic manipulation of point clouds with or without RGB information embedded. It is intended as an easy tool for editing and attaching different point clouds to obtain a final unified 3D model through a reversible step by step semi-automatic process. Editing steps are manual, whereas attachment is semi-automatic.

The ARKIS-NET project is focused on an innovative vision of the conservation of cultural heritage, in which the role of the access to different knowledge levels to dynamically use information is fundamental. ARKIS-NET is an evolution of ARKIS (Architecture Recovery Knowledge Information System), an Information System developed in recent years and dedicated to the management, analysis and representation of heterogeneous data, from the artefact scale to the territorial one, used as support to conservation, safeguard and fruition of cultural heritage. ARKIS-NET provides the foundation for disseminating high-end heterogeneous data, organised and represented in GIS form, and mapping services via the Internet. An user-friendly interface allows remote users to make analyses and query on data, integrating them with local data.

The study outlined here was conducted in order to show how the combined representation of a monument’s geometry, together with the morphology and distribution of the damage, the component materials and their physical characteristics, the historical-architectural analysis and environmental factors can be used to facilitate our understanding of the degradation processes. A correct management of the various aspects of our knowledge of our architectural heritage and the evaluation of its state of conservation, which are required for making a plan, implementing it and verifying the results, can only be achieved by constantly matching the specificity of the monument, after its exact geometry has been restored using elements obtained by means of historical and architectural analysis, the survey of the structure, building techniques and materials used, including those which describe its material status, considering individual buildings as a whole and systems of buildings as a group in its context. Information Technology (IT) was selected as the best means of creating environments that were the most suitable for the aims pursued and for use as an operating instrument. It was decided to translate the theoretical disciplinary model into a computer-based procedure in which the functions specific to the GIS - Geographic Information Systems - were transposed to an architectural scale. To this end, an Information System - ARKIS - is currently being configured. It is designed for the organisation, representation and utilisation of knowledge obtained from data regarding the architectural subject in question, its immediate context and its territorial location. Some actual applications are presented.

The study of a wide variety of artefacts of cultural interest requires a vast and heterogeneous documentation that ranges from information concerning the physical sites, to the typologies, state of conservation, methodologies of documentation and intervention, until the whole cognitive process is brought to fruition. The techniques employed for analysis, intervention and documentation are therefore fundamental both for the planning and the implementing of innovative solutions for the recovery and the conservation of the artefacts themselves, as well as for the protection and preservation of the archaeological heritage involved. This paper consists of an analysis of research projects in the field of cultural heritage which includes aspects of information and communication technologies, based on the ACM Classification Scheme. The topics dealt with are intended as a contribution to the understanding of the interdisciplinary approach which should be taken into consideration in proposing future research programs.