4th and 5th of March | Exhitibion TARRACO/MNAT at Tinglado 4, Roman Complex of Centcelles and CRAI-URV

Digital heritage: challenges and opportunities

On March 4th and 5th, the third edition of the Bessons Digitals conference will take place, jointly promoted by the Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona (MNAT), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and the Giravolt program for digitizing Catalan cultural heritage, under the Direcció General de Patrimoni Cultural from Generalitat de Catalunya. This third edition, which will once again have the collaboration of the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC), will continue to delve into the applications of 3D technology to cultural heritage as well as the challenges that its emergence poses in the management of these resources and their dissemination.

Bessons Digitals aims to delve into the role that digital technologies must play in the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage. The conference is based on the concept that cultural heritage is both a result and a process that provides society with resources inherited from the past, which takes on a new meaning in the present and which must be transmitted to the future.

During two days, students linked to the studies of art, history and archaeology at the URV will be able to experiment with a series of 3D digitization technologies and strategies for socializing heritage, articulated in four workshops: photogrammetry, storytelling applied to cultural heritage, laser scanning and introduction to the optimization of three-dimensional models.

Open to the entire community, the round table "Visible, valorize, virtualize" will emphasize the coexistence of different heritage, curatorial and educational practices linked to the management of the resulting models, and the possibility they open up for a multifaceted review of cultural heritage.

Aware of the challenge that the "digitization of the world" poses, these conferences explore the opportunity to turn it into a tool for revitalizing our material culture, including those elements that have been historically omitted, neglected or repressed.

Tuesday 4th March - Exhibition TARRACO/MNAT and Campus Catalunya at URV

Photogrammetry workshop

Time: Grup A 9:30 h - Grup B 12.00 h

Duration: 2 hores

Place: Tinglado 4. Moll de Costa del Port de Tarragona

By Ignacio Fiz, Pere Manel Martin and María Mercè Grau (URV team). 

The workshop will cover the following topics: 

• Photogrammetric documentation of medium-format pieces in the interior.
• Definition of the ideal and necessary parameters to start the documentation.
• Capture of photographic data of pieces from the MNAT collection.
• Data processing with Structure from motion.
• Export of results for processing with 3D printing software.

Storytelling workshop "Lxs Fabixs del MNAT"

Fabius Paulinus vs Fabia Colenda

Time: group B 9:30 h - group A 12:00 h 

Duration: 2 hours 

Place: Tinglado 4. Moll de Costa del Port de Tarragona  

By Vanina Hofman and Diana Gorostidi (URV team) 

The workshop will cover the following topics:

• Introduction to case studies: the pedestals of Fabius Paulinus and Fabia Colenda
• Contextualization: storytelling in digital culture
• Definition of audience profiles.
• Group development of strategies for activating cultural heritage: protocol for managing a storytelling proposal.
• Sharing and debate.  

Round Table: Make visible, value, virtualize

Time: de 17 a 19 h. 

Place: Campus Catalunya at URV (Boardroom) and at streaming. 

This activity is open to the general public. 

Speakers: 

• Glòria Munilla Cabrillana (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
• Alejandro Beltran Caballero (SETOPANT, Universitat Rovira i Virgili)
• Aleix Barberà (Universitat de Lleida; Resguard) 

  Moderator: Mònica Borrell, MNAT director

The topics that will be discussed in the round table will be:: 

• The enhancement of cultural heritage through its virtualization.
• Digital heritage as a vehicle for teaching and learning.
• Three-dimensional models as a tool for conservation and restoration.
• During the debate, other cross-cutting issues such as the sustainability of digital heritage, policies for its archiving and infrastructures for its maintenance will also be addressed together. 

Glòria Munilla Cabrillana

Doctor in History, specializing in Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology. Since 1998 she has been a professor in the Arts and Humanities Department at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). She is currently a member of the UB's Protohistoric Archaeology Research Group (GRAP), a consolidated team in which she conducts research related to the safeguarding of archaeological historical heritage in war conflicts, protohistory and heritage management.

Alejandro Beltrán Caballero

Architect (National University of Colombia), Doctor of Architecture (Polytechnic University of Catalonia-ETSAB) and Associate Researcher of the Seminar of Ancient Topography of Universitat Rovira i Virgili (SETOPANT-URV), Tarragona, Spain. His work focuses on the study of ancient settlements in relation to water management and landscape interpretation in ancient cities.

Aleix Barberà Giné

Graduate in conservation and restoration of cultural assets (ESCRBCC). Master in management of conservation-restoration projects (UB), master in cultural management (UOC) and in restoration of architectural monuments (UPC). Associate professor of the degree in art history and management of artistic heritage at the University of Lleida. Combines the professional practice of conservation-restoration with the 3D digitization of heritage and the reproduction of works of art at Resguard

Wednesday, 5th March - Roman complex of Centcelles and Campus Catalunya at URV

Laser scanning workshop

Time:  group A 9:30 h - group B 12:00 h

Duration: 2 hores

Place: Afores s/n. Constantí. CP. 43120

By Lluís González Martín (Programa Giravolt).

The workshop will cover the following topics:

• Description of the type of scanners and presentation of the machinery that we will use
• Description of the methodology and definition of the study phase of the action
• Practical part of data collection, laser scanning in various positions
• Data import process and verification of the reliability of the set
• Processing and editing of the captured data
• Examples of results and possibilities of using the data obtained
• Question round

Workshop on the application and optimization of photogrammetric models in virtual reality

Time: Group B 9:30 h - Group A 12:00 h 

Duration: 2 hours 

Place: Afores, s/n. Constantí. 

By Xavier Pascual (xhaustudio). 

The workshop will cover the following topics:

• Introduction and types of virtual reality viewers
• Optimization of a photogrammetric model with Blender3d, decimation of the polygonal mesh and export to .fbx.
• Importing the model into Unreal Engine and exporting to .apk.
• Using Sidequest to install the application on the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality glasses.
• Visualization of virtual experiences: Centcelles VR.

Closing session

Time: from 17 to 19 h

Place: Campus Catalunya de la URV (Boardroom).

Activity aimed at URV students.

More information

Follow the conferencies at:

MNAT : Instagram | X

Giravolt: Sketchfab | Linkedin

URV: Facebook | Instagram

Previous editions:

2024

2023