30 April 2013

Etruscanning 3D, an innovative way to experience Etrurian civilization

Etruscanning 3D in action

"Etruscanning: the Regolini - Galassi Tomb in 3D" is a project aimed to exploit the state-of-the-art technologies to allow people to experience the tomb, one of the masterpieces of Etrurian funerary art, as it was originally designed in 675 - 650 b.C.

This tomb was originally discovered in the XIX Century, and its richness didn't passed unnoticed to its discoverer. Lavish ornamets, jewlery and fine stone  were immediately stripped from their original location and transferred to the Vatican State collections.

Today, thanks to the European project Etruscanning 3D, the ancient majesty of the tomb is brought back to life. According to Ms. Eva Pietroni, who were involved in the project for CNR - ITABC, “The project bring toghether two contexts which were splitted for long time, the jewelery and the ornaments of the decesead, brought to the Vatican in 1838, and the tomb building itself, therefore empty and often not visible for the public”.

The particular 3D reconstruction techniques used within this project allows in fact a complete and immersive experience of the Etrurian tomb as it was found nearly two centuries ago.

The innovative element of Etruscanning, lies in the interaction model chosen to let the visitors explore the tomb: “Etruscanning – says again Ms. Pietroni – is based on interfaces which detect movements and gestures from the user. Without using any traditional input system, such joystick, mouse and keyboard, and relying only on their gestures, visitors can interact with the objects and artifacts in the tomb: a very innovative approach, based on human body motion, which will have a great impact on the museum content communication”.

The project saw the cooperation between the Allard Pierson Museum of Amsterdam, the National Museum for Antiquities of Leiden (NL), the Gallo - Roman Museum of Tongeren (BE) and the CNR - ITABC of Rome.

The Etrurian heritage and the 3D technologies are used also in CreativeCH. Within the Tuscany’s Showcase, in fact, three dimension scanning of Etrurian artifacts recovered in the area of Vetulonia and Roselle. 

More information here

Stefano Sbarbati

Etruscanning3D: the Regolini Galassi tomb in 3D from Eva Pietroni on Vimeo.