Carnuntum 2009- 2011 – Approach to a total Reconstruction

Franz Humer/Govt. of the State of Lower Austria , Dept. of Cultural Affairs – Archaeological Park Carnuntum, Christian Gugl/ Austrian Academy of Sciences, Michael Klein/ 7reasons

In 2006, on occasion of the 2000 year anniversary of the former Roman capital of Pannonia superior, Carnuntum, we had the chance to start a long-term project, aiming for a total reconstruction of the city, the legionary fortress and its canabae, including the surrounding landscape, which will result in a 1:300 scale model measuring over 20 x7 meters as well as a series of other media including Film and interactive Applications. The Scale Model will inherit approx. 5600 buildings and will be processed by a virtual model which is then being plotted on a 3d printer, either as a single instance or in negative-forms in order to duplicate certain smaller buildings by cast moulting. The generated computer models will also be used for the film scenes and have to be prepared accordingly. The final result will be presented in spring 2011. We will present a short overview of the used techniques and show the current state of this project.

Virtual Limes of Raetia and Germania Superior

Martin Schaich/ Arctron GmbH - Germany, Michael Klein/ 7reasons, Thomas Richter-Emde/ Kulturservice - Germany

In 2009 we where invited to produce an interactive application in order to visualize a 70 km long section of the german limes at Baden Württemberg. The specification claimed to reconstruct 5 auxiliary bases including their surrounding vicus, 3 small forts and numerous watchtowers along the former Roman border for a 3d-stereoscopic realtime application. Beside visualizing the content inside the realtime environment we where asked to produce a short movie clip introducing the viewer to the site in the third century a.d.. Further the user will have the opportunity to fly over the 70 km terrain, while switching the appearance of its surface - from present to past state, localizing well known landmarks and archaeological sites. The great task in this project was to find a solution for deducting the data size to a suitable dimension, still conserving most of its visual quality.

Radiography of the Past: a total project for digital prospection and modeling of complex sites

Frank Vermeulen/Universiteit Gent, Cristina Corsi/ Universidade de Évora, Michael Klein/7reasons

Partners: Universidade de Évora (Portugal), Universiteit Gent (Belgium), Univerza v Ljubljani (Slovenia), British School at Rome (United Kingdom), Past2Present (Netherlands),7reasons (Austria)

In April 2009 a European project, called “RADIO-PAST”, was launched within the Marie Curie framework “Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways”. The project aims to join resources and very different skills to tackle each possible aspect connected with "non-destructive" approaches to complex archaeological sites. The consortium of 7 partners has chosen an "open laboratory for research and experimentation” in and around the abandoned Roman site of Ammaia in central Portugal, but some research activities are carried out by the partner institutions in different areas of the Mediterranean . AMMAIA The ruins of the Roman town of Ammaia are located in the heart of the Natural Park of the Serra de São Mamede, a mountainous area of east central Portugal extending into Spanish territory. The site is part of the fertile valley of the river Sever (Marvão). At this stage of research, no settlement traces preceding the Roman foundation have been detected. The visualization of the geophysical results are approached by referencing the existing data with better preserved sites of the region comparing similar structures and dimensions, aiming to preserve architectural local features and details of decoration.Digital Elevation models, geophysic results, 3d Laser and Lidar scans are taken into account to build the ancient terrain, where the results of the architectural 3d reconstruction will reside.Special programs are used to achieve realistic results and breathe live into the scenes . A motioncapture system is used to drive the animation of computer generated people to ensure correct movements while keeping the production costs feasible. Sophisticated render algorithms will enable the creation of thousands of terrain features, like plants, stones and boulders as well as populating the scenes with animated characters. The output will result in a short movie clip (approx. 15Min) which can be also used for ongoing productions for television (documentaries) and print publications, with the option to re/use the produced data for other medias like installations for augmented reality, 3d realtime applications (educational games) and VR environments (Dome or Cave -Projections).

References:

www.arqueologiavirtual.com www.radiopast.eu www.carnuntum.co.at www.limeswelten.net www.arctron.de