One day to go...

The Digital Past Team are busy with final preparations for tomorrow. Delegate packs are finished, everything is together and we are just awaiting the arrival of the van so we can head off to Llandudno.

We are looking forward to meeting all our speakers, exhibitors and delegates, all of whom will make another successful Digital Past event!

Remote Sensing and Use of Unmanned Systems in Archaeology

Aerial imagery and more recently, remote sensing and use of unmanned systems, have become increasingly important tool in archaeology. RBG, or visible light imagery, has been the backbone of these techniques. However, developments in technology are now enabling improvements in photogrammetry techniques and more accurate tracking and positioning. Increasing miniaturisation of sensors is allowing much broader scope for remote sensing and data and process fusion is leading the way to viewing and analysing data in much greater depth. This can provide high resolution information otherwise difficult to obtain, and can also substantially reduce the time and cost of data acquisition.



Sue Wolfe of Callen-lenz will look at how some of these techniques are being brought together, and gives examples of novel approaches, both from a data collection and display perspective as well as analysis. the use, for example, of Digital Surface Models to provide automated topographical details and even field of view interpretation are discussed.

New and potential non invasive documentation of buried landscapes

Michael Doneus' (University of Vienna) presentation will focus on the wide range of prospection methods that can be applied on a landscape scale in a variety of environments. it will demonstrate the latest developments in aerial archaeology, airbourne laser scanning, airbourne imaging spectroscopy, but also geophysical methods (mainly magnetics and ground penetrating radar). it will finally discuss the possibilities and limitations of bathymetric sensor techniques in the attempt to overcome the border between land and water.

 

9 complete, 1 to go. - The Scottish Ten Project and what is next!

James Hepher, Surveyor/Spatial Analyst, Historic Scotland.

After the successful completion of the 3D survey of Sydney Opera House in April 2013, the Antonine Wall in July 2013 and the Eastern Qing Tombs in North ERast China in October 2012, Scotland's flagship 3D digital documentation project, The Scottish Ten (a partnership between Historic Scotland and Glasgow's School of Art's Digital Design Studio working together as The Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation) will culminate with the survey of one final World Heritage Site in the summer of 2014.

This presentation will examine: Results from the Scottish Ten Project so far; the benefits of working with international partners and the future potential for research and analysis based on these massive highly accurate 3D datasets. Expected deliverables from this project renge from primary source material for Building Information Modelling, 3D reconstruction for heritage site visitor experiences and educational material for mobile applications. Many valuable lessons have been and continue to be learned from this project.

IIC Technologies

The historic environment tells a country's story and is a precious resource. Documenting historic sites, buildings, structures and artefacts is an essential element in the proper stewardship of this resource. A measured survey is one of the important components of documentation and 3D point clouds form the core data of most measured surveys.

This presentation will loook at various capture methods available to the surveyor. The presentation will consider terredtrial laser scanning and photgrammetric techniques using stereo imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), poles and ground based cameras.It will also describe the use of structure from motion tchniques and structured light scanning capture methods. it will illustrate the use of these techniques on  a number of recent heritage projects.

3D point clouds are most closely associated, in the minds of many people, with the technique of laser scanning but rarely does scanning produce the complete solution. 3D point clouds can be created by many different methods and this presentation explains why particular capture solutions and  combination of solutions were used on different sites and situations to provide the data required by the client in a cost effective way.

The Future Is Not What It Used To Be!

Software Alliance Wales, gold sponsors of Digital Past 2014, deliver a range of training courses and workshops that help software engineers and other professional to maintain the high level IT skills demanded by differing sectors and industries.

 

 

The initiative - a £13.4 million project funded by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government - is supported by Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Swansea University, University of South Wales and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Working in collaboration with partner university - University of Wales Trinity Saint David - Software Alliance Wales supports the need for digital humanities; a discipline which brings together experts from within computer science, digital media, and arts and humanities to draw on the introduction and application of new technologies.

The skills learned and developed through the discipline and through the use of the Software Alliance Wales training courses and workshops, offers students and employees the opportunity to develop long  
lasting and successful careers within the heritage sector, including museum and archive work, digital publishing, web development, business and finance and computer and IT management.

Nathan Jorgensen, Academic Liaison Officer at Software Alliance wales, University of Trinity saint David, will be running a hands-on workshop introducing participants to the accessible world of developing and managing a website through WordPress.

Changing Cultural Heritage Online

Europeana.eu is Europe's largest cultural heritage resource, opening up access to 30 million items from 2,300 of Europe's libraries, museums, archives and audio-visual collections from national institutions such as the Louvre and British Library to regional archives and local monuments.

Jon Purday, Head of Communications at Europeana, will discuss their move to open up heritage content by making this massive dataset freely available under an open licence. Out of copyright items are increasingly marked as Public Domain, and together with its extensive use of social media and presence in Wikimedia Commons is designed to encourage re-use. Europeana is also working with experts from libraries, archives, museums and the AV sector to implement a common metadata framework, the European Data Model, as well as working with partners co-ordinate advocacy across the heritage sector on concerns surrounding orphan works and the harmonisation of copyright.

Europeana is also pioneering the digitisation of personal histories. Major initiatives currently include the digitisation across Europe of families own stories, documents and memorabilia associated with the First World War, European 1914-1918.eu and the fall of the Iron Curtain, europeana1989.eu.