Applicazioni digitali in archeologia: il restauro virtuale

Abstract

The development of information technology in the past two decades has led to the arising of new disciplines charachterized by the joining of methods and techniques typical of hard sciences with those peculiar to humanities; particularly in the fields of archaeology and architecture this synthesis represents an updating of traditional studies relating to ancient buildings, thus introducing innovations in the traditional research methods. Virtual Restoration is just one of these new disciplines: this expression identifies integrated procedures of Computer Graphic, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional, aimed at the restoration of artistic, archaeological or architectural assets in their complete or nearly complete integrity. Virtual Restoration represents a good tool for archaeologists, restorers and art historians. Actually, many artistic assets can’t be restorated because of a lack of appropriate technical solutions; because of previous bad restoration interventions; because of lack of an accurate documentation which allows to understand how an artistic asset can be rebuilt; because of the impossibility of a physical restoration intervention. With the help of digital techniques it is now possible to get great possibilities of intervention in creating restoring projects for paintings, mosaics but also for architectural works and three-dimensional objects. Through digital processing carried out with computer graphic programs you can get virtual reconstructions both on video or in print. Virtual Restoration is finding today a place also in university research centers