Presentation at the Digital Museum Expo "Beyond 3D Digitisation: Applications of 3D Technology in Cultural Heritage" on 12-13 March 2015 in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels, Belgium

1. The use of
virtual reconstruction
in Ename
Daniel Pletinckx
Visual Dimension bvba
Belgium
V-MUST is funded by the European Commission under the Community's Seventh
Framework Programme, contract no. GA 270404.

2. Ename
Ename village centre and archaeological site

3. A village as museum
• Monument: Saint-Laurentius church (995 AD)
• Archaeological site (1942)
– 25 years of excavation
– Extensive research (history, botany, geophysics, …)
– Archaeological park
– TimeFrame (1st onsite AR system in the world)
• Museum (1998)
• Heritage Centre (2010)

4. Ename Saint-Laurentius church
Saint Laurentius church today

5. Ename Saint-Laurentius church
Saint Laurentius church in 1020

6. Ename Saint-Laurentius church
Saint Laurentius church interior today

7. Ename archaeological park
Ename archaeological park (2013)

8. Ename TimeFrame
TimeFrame system at Ename archaeological site, Belgium (1997)

9. Ename TimeFrame
Virtual reconstruction of Ename in 1065 with landscape simulation (2002)

10. Ename TimeFrame
TimeFrame system at Ename archaeological site, Belgium (2013)

11. Ename TimeFrame
TimeFrame system at Ename archaeological site, Belgium (2013)

12. Ename TimeFrame
Virtual reconstruction of Ename in 1065 with landscape simulation (2013)

13. Ename TimeFrame
Virtual reconstruction of Ename in 1665 with landscape simulation (2013)

14. Ename museum
TimeLine room in Ename museum – interactive application

15. Ename museum
TimeLine application in Ename museum used by guides

16. Ename heritage centre
Heritage Centre on archaeological site of Ename

17. 3D Virtual museums
• What does 3D offers to virtual museums
– Digitise existing buildings and objects
– Recreate and visualise the past
– Digitally restore museum objects and buildings
– Explore virtual spaces
– See evolution in time until today

18. Ename TimeFrame
Current Ename TimeFrame (re-inaugurated in 2013)

19. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1065)

20. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1085)

21. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1150)

22. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1500)

23. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1665)

24. Ename TimeFrame
4D visualisation of evolution of the Ename abbey site (1730)

25. Sustainable historical reconstruction
• Reconstruction of
• Buildings and man-made structures (immovable)
• Objects (movable)
• Behaviour (immaterial)
• Landscape (nature, altered by man)
• Sustainable
• Virtual reconstruction is a never ending story
• Concatenation of different high-end software packages => flexible
• Use of standards (.obj, Collada)
• High-level documentation of process and data
• Transmedia approach

26. Interpretation of archaeology
Aerial photo of the archaeological site of Ename

27. Interpretation of archaeology
Synthetic archaeology map with the first abbey highlighted

28. Interpretation of archaeology
Conceptual model of buildings and terrain

29. Interpretation of sources
Depiction of the early Ename abbey (around 1100) in Viel Rentier (1275)

30. Object modelling
Blender model of building crane

31. Object modelling
Blender model of ferry boat

32. Object modelling
Painting of Dutch ferry boat (Salomon van Ruysdael, 1649)

33. Object modelling and animation
Animated Blender model of medieval chariot and horse

34. Object modelling and animation
13th century depiction of medieval chariot and horse (Viel Rentier)

35. Ename 1020
Reconstruction of Ename in 1020, harbour and Saint Salvator church

36. Ename 1020
Medieval harbour of Utrecht (around 1000)

37. Ename 1020
Medieval boat of Utrecht (around 1000)

38. Ename 1020
Reconstruction of Ename in 1020

39. Landscape simulation
Procedural landscape simulation in Vue (1085)

40. Landscape simulation
Procedural landscape simulation in Vue (1085)

41. Landscape simulation
Procedural landscape simulation in Vue (1085)

42. Landscape simulation
Procedural landscape simulation in Vue (1085)

43. Workflow
Terrain without vegetation (Vue)

44. Workflow
Terrain with water and vegetation after population (Vue)

45. Workflow
Terrain with vegetation, buildings and (animated) objects (Collada)

46. TimeLine
New TimeLine application (2014) - video

47. TimeLine
Book locks in Ename museum

48. TimeLine
Book locks in Ename museum – interactive object

49. TimeLine
Bone skate in Ename museum – interactive object

50. Ename educational game
Ename heritage centre

51. Ename educational game
Educational game – work in progress – chapter room remains

52. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – chapter room

53. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – chapter room

54. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – refectory and lavatory

55. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – refectory

56. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – scriptorium

57. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – work by Martijn van Torhout

58. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – scriptorium

59. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – scriptorium

60. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – library

61. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – library

62. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter portal

63. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter portal

64. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter dining room

65. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter table ware

66. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter table ware

67. Ename educational game
Educational game – conceptual model – guest quarter table ware

68. europeana.eu
Ename in 3D on Europeana – 3D-ICONS (http://visualdimension.be/europeana/)

69. Conclusions
• 3D = Visual interpretation = intellectual access
• Recontextualisation = the story behind the object
and archaeological remains
• 3D gives visual reference to historical period
• Virtual environments “unpeel” the multiple layers of
history of a site
• Digital libraries such as Europeana give
unprecedented access to cultural heritage
= democratisation of cultural heritage

70. Thank you!
heritage@visualdimension.be
exploitation@v-must.net
skype: daniel.pletinckx