Virtual reality and Web tools to convey the visual information of ancient monuments

Visual communication and visual knowledge are areas that can take important benefits from mature CG technologies. This paper demonstrates a methodology to give new insights into cultural heritage which is based on virtual reality techniques, Web navigation tools, advanced image analysis and photorealistic image synthesis methods. A VRML model of the ancient Roman Theatre of Aosta is the basis to explore multiple data types describing the current status of the building and to examine possible restoration and conservation choices. JAVA scripts increase the degree of interactivity with the data collected by the experts. Photometric and colorimetric data are derived by analysing stones. Image analysis and surface reconstruction algorithms are used to obtain a geometric representation of stones, necessary to produce photorealistic samples of both the present status and the past and future conditions of the building. The final rendering, using VRML tools, has been implemented by adopting texturing as well as photorealistic methods. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.