Track 12 – Digital Technologies for CHANGES
Permanent URI for this collection
• Silvio Peroni – University of Bologna, Italy • Ivan Heibi – University of Bologna, Italy
Digital Technologies for CHANGES (CHANGES SESSION) - Part 1
Designing Augmented Reality Storytelling in Historical Palaces: The Royal Palace of Caserta
as a Case Study
] [
]
Roberta Presta, Yulia Tikhomirova, Francesca Nicolais, Leonardo Chiechi, Roberto Montanari,
and Gianluca Genovese
Flexible, Integrable and Accessible Digital Tools for a Dynamic and Adaptive Experience of
Museum Environments. The CHAMELEON project
Federica Maietti, Ursula Thun Hohenstein, Loreno Arboritanza, Marco Medici, Stefano
Settimo, Davide Borra, Stefano Santo Sabato, Ornella De Curtis, Giovanni Serafini, Andrea
Perez, Chiara Parisi, Silvia Zanazzi, and Giorgio Poletti
3D Digitisation for Geological and Paleontological Specimens: Challenges and Solutions
Luisa Ammirati, Alice Bordignon, Federica Collina, Francesca Fabbri, Daniele Ferdani, Maria
Felicia Rega, and Mattia Sullini
A Virtual Gallery Platform for Exploring Cultural Heritage collections and Practicing
Digital Curatorship in a University Context
Roberta Presta, Chiara Tancredi, Marianna Cuomo, Roberto Montanari, and Gianluca Genovese
Multi-scalar Risk Mapping of Climate Change Impacts on Outdoor Tangible Cultural Heritage:
the Case Study of Tortona, Italy
Angelo Figliola, Adriano Ruggiero, Alberto Calenzo, Andrea Canducci, Livia Calcagni, and
Alessandra Battisti
PALEOTWIN. A Platform for Creating Integrated Digital Experiences: the case study of the
Collezione di Geologia ''Museo Giovanni Capellini''
Michela Contessi, Davide Borra, Stefano Santo Sabato, Diego Mammo Zagarella, Giuliana
Benvenuti, Chiara Caruso, Annalisa Managlia, and Roberto Balzani
Supervised Models to Support Investigations of Ancient Coins
Luca Naso, Lavinia Sole, Andrea Patti, Francesco Armetta, Fabrizio Lo Celso, Wladimiro
Carlo Patatu, and Maria Luisa Saladino
Digital Technologies for CHANGES (CHANGES SESSION) - Part 2
Morphosyntactic Variation in Italian and Romansh Dialects: The Manzini & Savoia (2005)
Corpus Within Project CHANGES
Greta Mazzaggio, Carlo Zoli, Neri Binazzi, Luca Andrea Ludovico, Mael Vittorio Vena, M.
Rita Manzini, and Leonardo Maria Savoia
Beyond Participation: A Quadruple Helix Approach to Digital Cultural Heritage and Inclusive
Stakeholder Engagement
Aelita Skarzauskiene, Monika Mačiulienė, and Kristina Kovaitė
Small Codes: a platform for digital resources and tools for minority languages and dialects
Carlo Zoli, Greta Mazzaggio, and Neri Binazzi
Digital technologies for the ''Grazia Deledda'' Literary Park in Galtellì (NU): the 3D
virtual reconstruction of Pontes Castle
Nicola Mariniello, Federica Giacomini, Sara Obbiso, Francesco Sicilia, Antonio Sanna,
Alessandro Iannucci, and Giuliana Benvenuti
Digital Technologies for CHANGES (CHANGES SESSION) - Part 3
Evaluating Zero-Shot Monocular Depth Estimation Models for Tactile Rendering of Paintings
Roberto Magherini, Michaela Servi, Francesco Buonamici, and Rocco Furferi
''There was a scribe, a priest and a thief''. Testing the potential of language models for
the creation of curatorial narratives in an archaeological museum
Enrico Mensa, Chiara Fulfaro, Flavia Fubini, Andrea Bottino, Riccardo Antonino, Enrico
Ferraris, and Rossana Damiano
Community Landscape Archaeology and Digital Technologies for Heritagization and
Memorialization Processes
Luigi Magnini, Marco Paladini, Martina Bergamo, Jacopo Paiano, Bendetta De Rossi, Monica
Calcagno, and Diego Calaon
Formalising cultural heritage metadata with a multidisciplinary approach: enriching the
CHANGES workflow for enhancing a museum collection about ceramics through a FAIR
digitisation process
Arianna Moretti and Madeleine Daste
HERIFORGE Polish Hub As Digital Heritage Growing XR Community
Marta M. Swietlik and Gabriela Manista
A Summarization and Analysis of Methodologies for Creating Interactive and Lifelike
Historical Characters Based on MetaHuman
Victor Yuan and Alan Miller
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Digital technologies for the ''Grazia Deledda'' Literary Park in Galtellì (NU): the 3D virtual reconstruction of Pontes Castle(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Mariniello, Nicola; Giacomini, Federica; Obbiso, Sara; Sicilia, Francesco; Sanna, Antonio; Iannucci, Alessandro; Benvenuti, Giuliana; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis paper aims to present one of the digital outputs of the ongoing project to enhance the Grazia Deledda Literary Park in Galtellì: the virtual reconstruction of the medieval Pontes Castle, located in an impervious and hard-to-reach area. Although it is now difficult to identify the original structure, historical research, graphic reconstructions, surveys, and the restoration and consolidation works provide valuable information about its layout, which can be further expanded and improved thanks to the application of digital technologies. The 3D digitization of Pontes Castle using Gaussian Splatting introduces a new way of documenting cultural heritage through photorealistic reconstruction without polygonal meshes. This technique enables real-time interactive visualization, reducing processing time compared to traditional photogrammetry while offering a more natural handling of light and details. At the same time, to assess the benefits offered by this technique, the field data will also be processed using well-established software in the field of classical photogrammetry. In this regard, the results obtained with conventional techniques can serve as a ground-truth reference to verify the quality of the 3D-GS point cloud.Item Multi-scalar Risk Mapping of Climate Change Impacts on Outdoor Tangible Cultural Heritage: the Case Study of Tortona, Italy(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Figliola, Angelo; Ruggiero, Adriano; Calenzo, Alberto; Canducci, Andrea; Calcagni, Livia; Battisti, Alessandra; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThe wide array of risks posed by climate change to outdoor tangible cultural heritage at different scales necessitates a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, as well as an initial critical review of existing risk assessment methodologies across various fields. Within this framework, the research conducted by the Sapienza PNRR workgroup has developed a multi-scalar mapping methodology to support the risk assessment process concerning to the multivariate effect of climate change and the interaction of different risks on the tangible outdoor heritage, specifically on the case study of Tortona, Italy.Item Evaluating Zero-Shot Monocular Depth Estimation Models for Tactile Rendering of Paintings(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Magherini, Roberto; Servi, Michaela; Buonamici, Francesco; Furferi, Rocco; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioAccess to pictorial art remains a significant challenge for visually impaired individuals, as 2D paintings require transformation into tactile 2.5D/3D models. While deep learning offers promising tools for monocular depth estimation (MDE), applying state-of-the-art zero-shot models to artworks presents unique difficulties due to artistic conventions (perspective, lighting, texture) and the lack of ground truth, especially concerning details crucial for tactile perception. This paper addresses this gap by qualitatively evaluating a wide range of SOTA zero-shot MDE models - including DepthAnything (v1/v2), Marigold, Metric3D v2, ZoeDepth, UniDepth (v1/v2/v2_old), GeoWizard (v1/v2), and Depth-Pro - on their ability to generate depth maps suitable for tactile rendering from two 20th-century Italian paintings with distinct styles and input qualities. The assessment, based on criteria like detail preservation, contour definition, spatial coherence, and artifact absence, reveals that while zero-shot models can interpret basic spatial structures, performance varies considerably. Models such as DepthAnything v2 and GeoWizard v2 demonstrated superior capabilities in preserving key features for tactile fruition, emerging as promising candidates. However, no model produced a directly usable output, highlighting persistent challenges in handling artistic styles and pictorial textures. This study provides the first systematic comparison in this niche application, offering practical insights for cultural institutions aiming to leverage AI for accessibility. It concludes that current zero-shot models, while valuable starting points requiring validation and refinement, show significant potential but also underscore the need for further research in areas like targeted post-processing, art-specific metrics, and user-centered validation to make cultural heritage truly accessible to all.Item Designing Augmented Reality Storytelling in Historical Palaces: The Royal Palace of Caserta as a Case Study(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Presta, Roberta; Tikhomirova, Yulia; Nicolais, Francesca; Chiechi, Leonardo; Montanari, Roberto; Genovese, Gianluca; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis paper presents a structured framework for designing spatial augmented reality (AR) storytelling in historical palaces, addressing the specific narrative and spatial challenges posed by these culturally layered environments. The framework identifies eight critical decision points that guide narrative design, including story orientation, site-specific methods, narrative scale, mediation strategies, and augmentation techniques. Its application is demonstrated through the design of an AR storytelling experience for the Queen's Apartments of the Royal Palace of Caserta, based atop a high-resolution digital twin of the palace, which served as the spatial foundation for precise, location-based augmented reality interactions. Leveraging the framework, the work proposes a narrative concept centered on experiencing the palace through the eyes of Queen Maria Carolina of Habsburg. Rather than offering a complete mobile application design, the framework provides a narrative backbone that supports coherent, scalable, and historically sensitive AR experiences in historical palaces and offers cultural heritage professionals a flexible yet grounded design tool to prototype, iterate, and expand AR storytelling strategies in complex heritage environments.Item PALEOTWIN. A Platform for Creating Integrated Digital Experiences: the case study of the Collezione di Geologia ''Museo Giovanni Capellini''(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Contessi, Michela; Borra, Davide; Sabato, Stefano Santo; Zagarella, Diego Mammo; Benvenuti, Giuliana; Caruso, Chiara; Managlia, Annalisa; Balzani, Roberto; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThe ''PALEOTWIN'' Project aims to develop a digital platform focused on the creation of a central repository for managing and retrieving digital materials related to museum cultural heritage. Here we present a case study applied to the Collezione di Geologia ''Museo Giovanni Capellini'', part of the Bologna Museum University Network. This centralized repository will support various digital consumption formats (texts, audio, 3D reconstructions, augmented reality, and virtual reality reconstructions), including customizable pathways based on semantic logic, to enhance accessibility and usability, particularly for users with disabilities. The project includes the implementation of a ''gamified'' mode and immersive functionalities for an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experience, enabling advanced interactions with digital models and 3D environments. Here we present the system architecture and the design of the semantic repository which represent the backbone of the project. The entire proposed architecture is designed to be easily configurable and expandable, thanks to a software and hardware framework optimized for user interaction and ease of use.Item Morphosyntactic Variation in Italian and Romansh Dialects: The Manzini & Savoia (2005) Corpus Within Project CHANGES(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Mazzaggio, Greta; Zoli, Carlo; Binazzi, Neri; Ludovico, Luca Andrea; Vena, Mael Vittorio; Manzini, M. Rita; Savoia, Leonardo Maria; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis paper presents the digitization and online dissemination of the Manzini & Savoia (2005) corpus, one of the most comprehensive resources on morphosyntactic variation in Italian and Romansh dialects. Developed within Project CHANGES (Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Sustainable Society), the initiative responds to the urgent need for systematic documentation and open-access preservation of linguistic diversity. The new platform integrates a relational PostgreSQL database, a Strapi-based backend, and an interactive web interface, offering multiple modes of exploration-including map-based navigation, morphosyntactic query, and access to original fieldwork notebooks. The entire dataset (64,472 examples with IPA transcription and metadata) is openly available on Zenodo for independent research and reuse. The project also explores experimental applications of Large Language Models (LLMs) for automatic annotation, demonstrating the potential for computational approaches in dialectology. This work provides a replicable model for sustainable digital archiving and fosters interdisciplinary research across linguistic, computational, and cultural heritage domains.Item Flexible, Integrable and Accessible Digital Tools for a Dynamic and Adaptive Experience of Museum Environments. The CHAMELEON project(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Maietti, Federica; Hohenstein, Ursula Thun; Arboritanza, Loreno; Medici, Marco; Settimo, Stefano; Borra, Davide; Sabato, Stefano Santo; Curtis, Ornella De; Serafini, Giovanni; Perez, Andrea; Parisi, Chiara; Zanazzi, Silvia; Poletti, Giorgio; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThe project CHAMELEON - Adaptable, integrable and accessible digital tools for a dynamic and adaptive use of museum environments, is focused on the Piero Leonardi Museum of Palaeontology and Prehistory, part of the Museum System of the University of Ferrara. The aim is to develo p a set of digital tools for documenting, enhancing, sharing and narrating the museum palaeontological and anthropological collections. Starting with the conceptualization of a new digital exhibition system, the accurate 3D digital acquisition of more than thirty objects have been performed. The fossils were selected considering their state of preservation, relevance and scientific representativeness, and the need to be linked to an augmented set of information. The survey, carried out through structuredlight handheld 3D scanner and digital photogrammetry, is the result of a methodological assessment highlighting the critical -interpretative and documentation opportunities that digitisation offers. The application design and development includes IT configurations aimed at managing content and virtual experiences. Responsive design, standard metadata, and open APIs support an inclusive user experience embedded in the IT architecture through applications for Semantic XR Museum, Semantic XR Avatar, 360° AR Experiences, frontside AR Experiences, and VR Experiences in specific settings. The overall outcome is a ''chameleonic'' repository able to manage on-line all the multimedia contents associated with the fruition and storytelling of tangible and intangible information.Item ''There was a scribe, a priest and a thief''. Testing the potential of language models for the creation of curatorial narratives in an archaeological museum(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Mensa, Enrico; Fulfaro, Chiara; Fubini, Flavia; Bottino, Andrea; Antonino, Riccardo; Ferraris, Enrico; Damiano, Rossana; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioIn the cultural heritage sector, Artificial Intelligence can aid in the creation of narratives by enhancing human creativity and assisting cultural heritage professionals in crafting and developing stories. In this work we focus specifically on how large language models can support rather than replace curatorial expertise. While AI can generate content, crafting compelling narratives requires human understanding of narrative structures, cultural context, and thematic coherence. We present a platform that helps curators create interactive stories for museums through AI assistance, developed as part of the CHANGES project at the Egyptian Museum in Turin. The platform enables curatorial narrative creation with selective LLM support, connects stories to museum collections via semantic annotation, and facilitates translation to venue-specific technical formats. Rather than having LLMs generate complete stories, curators construct the narrative framework while using LLMs to transform structured scene descriptions into polished prose. Our evaluation with three state-of-the-art models across 147 scenes and in a real use-case scenario shows that current LLMs can effectively complete this constrained creative task, though all outputs still require human refinement. This curator-driven approach ensures that generated narratives maintain the accuracy and scholarly standards essential for cultural heritage contexts while benefiting from AI's linguistic capabilities.Item Community Landscape Archaeology and Digital Technologies for Heritagization and Memorialization Processes(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Magnini, Luigi; Paladini, Marco; Bergamo, Martina; Paiano, Jacopo; Rossi, Bendetta De; Calcagno, Monica; Calaon, Diego; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioArchaeologists have increasingly embraced public and community engagement, recognizing that multi-vocal approaches, decolonization, and community participation are crucial in a global context. One of the most effective methods is fostering public involvement in research. However, studies often focus on the social, economic, and political outcomes of archaeology while underutilizing digital tools beyond dissemination, missing opportunities for co-creation, narrative building, and multivocality. Our research, part of the CHANGES-CREST project, explores the integration of community participation with mobile GIS technologies, remote sensing and Artificial Intelligence. The project aims to co-design sustainable cultural heritage tourism, develop community-based heritage practices, apply digital solutions for heritage promotion, and support decolonization processes. Two test sites in the Veneto Region have been implemented as case studies. The Venetian Lagoon has a rich archaeological record dating back to the protohistoric period to recent times but faces preservation challenges due to climate change, tourism, and migration. The Asiago Plateau presents significant archaeological phases from Prehistory to the Cold War; this peripheral region experiences tensions between development and conservation. Methodologically, we employ free mobile GIS platforms, remote sensing data (satellite images, cartography, aerial photos), Artificial Intelligence analysis and local knowledge by involving communities in sharing experiences and topographical points of interest. Participants identify culturally significant locations, associating narratives with material evidence, personal experiences and local history. Public meetings and focus groups serve as discussion forums, while archaeologists and citizens collaborate in field surveys, mapping the local heritage and creating AI models for the automatic recognition of the archaeological landscape. Mobile GIS also aids in planning future research activities, preservation and valorization of cultural heritage. By sharing GIS tools on local communities personal devices, users gain autonomy in heritage mapping and conservation. These digital tools have engaged younger and tech-savvy participants and, the use of drones fostering new perspectives on landscape analysis. Technology and landscape knowledge have emerged as shared languages between archaeologists and communities, facilitating knowledge exchange and aiding decolonization efforts. Simplifying data and establishing digital 'fixed points' in landscape reconstruction helps to re-narrate complex histories and support decolonisation. Making archaeological language accessible and openly acknowledging interpretative uncertainties promotes inclusivity over rigid academic narratives. Both case studies demonstrate that digital and community archaeology should be seen as an interconnected system of theories, tools, and practices. Free mobile GIS, in particular, empowers communities to engage actively with their heritage, fostering a contemporary and inclusive archaeological approach.Item Supervised Models to Support Investigations of Ancient Coins(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Naso, Luca; Sole, Lavinia; Patti, Andrea; Armetta, Francesco; Celso, Fabrizio Lo; Patatu, Wladimiro Carlo; Saladino, Maria Luisa; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis paper presents the initial findings of the ongoing MML-ARCH project, which uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to create predictive, supervised models for analyzing archaeological, numismatic and physicochemical data. Specifically, the study proposes using convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms to predict the minting year of ancient Roman Republican coins based on the iconography on the obverse and reverse.Item Beyond Participation: A Quadruple Helix Approach to Digital Cultural Heritage and Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Skarzauskiene, Aelita; Mačiulienė, Monika; Kovaitė, Kristina; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThe digitization of cultural heritage offers significant opportunities for preservation, maintenance, and promotion. However, it also presents challenges in terms of representation and the exhibition of content, particularly for the cultural heritage of minorities. Recent discourse has brought co-creation methodologies to the forefront as a transformative strategy, leveraging the collective expertise of communities, governments, and institutions to surmount the limitations of traditional, hierarchical models. These methodologies, which emphasize cultural democracy and equity, seek to involve a diverse array of stakeholders in the preservation and decision-making processes surrounding heritage. Despite these advances, there remains a lack of a unified model capable of fully elucidating the diverse roles of stakeholders in cultural heritage digitization. This gap underlines the need for a framework that not only democratizes access to cultural heritage but also reshapes stakeholder roles by integrating digital audiences and communities into the ecosystem, thereby redefining cultural heritage as a dynamic, living process that spans social, economic, and technological dimensions. The primary objective of this paper is to foster a deep understanding of the roles, motivations, and prerequisites of stakeholders involved in the digitization process, with a special focus on minority communities. This involves mapping the current digitization policies, academic narratives, and practices in cultural heritage across Europe, exploring the limitations of existing participatory models, examining the roles of diverse stakeholders in heritage digitization, and proposing a more integrated Quadruple Helix Ecosystem Framework that accounts for technological, social, and policy-driven dynamics. The focus on minority communities serves as a key case study, demonstrating how co-creation methodologies reshape cultural heritage as a living, evolving process.Item 3D Digitisation for Geological and Paleontological Specimens: Challenges and Solutions(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Ammirati, Luisa; Bordignon, Alice; Collina, Federica; Fabbri, Francesca; Ferdani, Daniele; Rega, Maria Felicia; Sullini, Mattia; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis study outlines the methodology employed for the digitisation and visualisation in different 3D Virtual Environment (both web-based and desktop-based) of paleontological and geological specimens from the Geological Collection ''Giovanni Capellini Museum'', part of the University of Bologna's museum system.The digitisation process involved 87 objects of varying sizes, shapes, materials, and conservation states, following the proven methodology implemented within the Digital Twin of L'Altro Rinascimento's temporary exhibition, developed within the PNRR project CHANGES (Spoke 4). This paper describes the pipeline adopted to address specific challenges encountered during the acquisition campaign of the diverse specimen. A preliminary assessment was conducted to determine the most suitable technique for each object based on its size, shape, material, and conservation state. The study showcases different integrated techniques, including photogrammetry, structured light scanning (SLS), and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The results demonstrate the flexibility and reproducibility of this approach, making it suitable for different heritage preservation and dissemination applications.Item Small Codes: a platform for digital resources and tools for minority languages and dialects(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Zoli, Carlo; Mazzaggio, Greta; Binazzi, Neri; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioSmall Codes is an open digital infrastructure designed to support the preservation and revitalization of minority languages through scalable, interoperable and user-friendly tools. The platform combines linguistic data management with web-based technologies, offering an integrated suite of software modules-including online dictionaries, spell-checkers, corpus alignment systems, linguistic maps, and multimedia archives-tailored for under-resourced and dialectally fragmented languages. Unlike standard language technology pipelines designed for dominant languages, Small Codes supports linguistically diverse input and community-led data models. It operates through a federated, semi-industrial development model, balancing long-term sustainability with flexibility for academic and institutional partners. This paper outlines the system architecture and core functionalities of Small Codes, presents selected implementation scenarios, and discusses its contribution to digital heritage and computational dialectology.Item A Virtual Gallery Platform for Exploring Cultural Heritage collections and Practicing Digital Curatorship in a University Context(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Presta, Roberta; Tancredi, Chiara; Cuomo, Marianna; Montanari, Roberto; Genovese, Gianluca; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThis paper presents the design rationale and conceptual framework for a virtual gallery platform aimed at supporting digital curatorship and cultural engagement in academic contexts. Grounded in the lessons learned from a legacy foundational prototype and informed by user-centered research, the platform is designed to enable students, educators, and cultural heritage professionals to curate, configure, and share digital exhibitions based on institutional collections. The paper defines the platform's architectural vision and functional requirements, structured around four main components: a digital library, a 3D exhibition environment, a publishing interface, and an AI-based curatorial assistant. A formative user experience evaluation with emerging professionals provided critical insights into usability and curatorial needs, directly informing the design of the proposed platform, as a reference model for integrating digital heritage practices into university education, fostering both curatorial agency and sustainable access to underused collections.Item HERIFORGE Polish Hub As Digital Heritage Growing XR Community(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Swietlik, Marta M.; Manista, Gabriela; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioIn its first six months, the Polish Hub - launched under the Horizon Europe-funded HERIFORGE (cultural HERitage and Immersive technologies for innovation FORGE) project - has laid critical groundwork for fostering innovation at the intersection of cultural heritage and Extended Reality (XR) technologies. Through stakeholder mapping, policy analysis, SWOT diagnostics, and qualitative interviews, the Hub exposes structural gaps and latent potential within Poland's fragmented digital heritage landscape. It offers a participatory, place-based model that connects research, practice, and policymaking to enable long-term, cross-sectoral collaboration. As the project transitions into its 30-month implementation phase, these initial insights provide both a strategic foundation and a timely opportunity to share methodologies that can inform and inspire similar ecosystem-building efforts across Europe.Item A Summarization and Analysis of Methodologies for Creating Interactive and Lifelike Historical Characters Based on MetaHuman(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Yuan, Victor; Miller, Alan; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioVirtual characters have long held promise as pedagogical tools in heritage education, particularly for creating immersive interactions with historical figures. Researchers have envisioned systems capable of emulating these figures, enabling users to engage in life-like, face-to-face dialogues over time. While technological constraints historically limited such applications, recent advancements in computational graphics and language models have now made them viable. This paper presents a frame- work for constructing interactive virtual character systems, outlining their core components through two critical dimensions: photorealism and interaction. The photorealism dimension leverages modern graphics tools to achieve high-fidelity visual rep- resentation, while the interaction dimension utilizes language models to enable socially believable and contextually responsive dialogue. We examine the necessity of each component and analyze available technological solutions with their respective trade-offs. Beyond the technical framework, we discuss potential future improvements and address ethical and practical con- cerns inherent to such systems. By synthesizing current technologies and their applicability, this work provides institutions with practical guidance for developing customized interactive systems that balance functionality with cost-efficiency.Item Formalising cultural heritage metadata with a multidisciplinary approach: enriching the CHANGES workflow for enhancing a museum collection about ceramics through a FAIR digitisation process(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Moretti, Arianna; Daste, Madeleine; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, FabioThe domain of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums is naturally rich in unstructured and semi-structured data, often collected favouring field-specific informative content to data Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability. Intending to define a balanced pipeline for small-scale museums' metadata dissemination, this paper introduces Digital Damaged Ceramics, a multidisciplinary project aimed at leveraging digital tools and Open Science-oriented pipelines to formalise domain-specific knowledge about two collections of ceramic specimens, held by the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza and the Musée National céramique de Sèvres. With a minimal setting of resources, the project could benefit from multidisciplinary solutions tailored within a limited team of researchers with complementary expertise covering digital skills and domain-specific knowledge, and from the state-of-the-art digitisation workflow developed by CHANGES project's Spoke 4, dedicated to Virtual technologies for museums and art Collections, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The first part of the proposed methodology is experimental, meant to address and adequately visualise aspects specifically concerning the study of damaged ceramics. In the spirit of the best Open Science practices, the second phase consists of the re-adoption of a consolidated workflow, covering both metadata management and 3D digitisation process. All the research products are available online on a dedicated website, including: a data visualisation landing page, a catalogue for each of the two collections, an interface for semantically querying the dataset with SPARQL, a page for exposing 3D models, another one for the datasets, and a documentation.