Digital Heritage: sensing the legacy of remote places

Small communities are often groups whose traditions and history are preserved long since: being somehow favored by distance from global cities and wider multi-cultural metropolises, local communities are mostly unknown, even if they cherish remarkable historic monuments or minor archaeological sites, often located in rural spaces. These kind of cultural “enclaves” are paramount to bequeath the legacy of places and they represent relevant singularities that have to be protected, preserved and disseminated. During the presentation, some works and case studies on virtual modeling and surveying of some important Italian and Mediterranean archaeological and monumental sites will be introduced, followed by a critic perspective on how these data and tools can be used as knowledge collectors aimed at multidisciplinary activities. Computer models are very easy to be shared and visualized on many different devices, so that a new wave of interactive installations located in museums all over the world are becoming more and more publicized, together with their dual web edition frequently prepared to allow visitors to pay virtual visits. Places can be now investigated from afar, measured and examined in the computer’s domain, however digital representations are effective in the real world as well, favoring urban area planning or accurate restoration projects. In fact, scholars, researchers, professionals, historian and public administrators, for example, can take advantage of many advanced survey technologies available today and aimed at 3D models generation, which can represent a strategic tool meant to document the Cultural Heritage, fostering real or digital tourism.