Archaeology in 3D: a virtual visit to a shipwreck

The remains of a Roman shipwreck that lies more than 120 meters deep off the coast of Panarea, are no longer exclusive to a few deep sea specialists. It is now possible to reach the remains of the sunken ship through virtual reality like in a video game viewing them as if face to face, to discover the contents of the ship and its route, interrupted over two thousand years ago most likely by adverse weather conditions.

Results through technology: processing the photographs taken by the Superintendent of the Sicilian sea by deep water technical operators, Alessandro Piras, a student of the first edition of the Professional Master’s programme in Digital Humanities of Ca’ Foscari, has created a three-dimensional and high-res reconstruction of the wreck.

In his master’s project, entitled Exhibit the impossible, the student in question used complex processes that allow one to extract information from images to mimic the human eye, known as computer vision. In particular, he used the 'structure from motion' technique, through which it is possible to recreate a real life 3D model starting from two-dimensional images.

The 'tour' is enriched by 'information points', with archaeological investigations that the user can explore, getting content ranging from information regarding the ship's cargo to general historical context. The project on the Panarea wreck will be continued in the second edition of the Master, with the development of new features.

"Among many applications - explains Andrea Torsello, a professor of Computer Science of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics at Ca’ Foscari - 3D reconstructions also allows users to access realistic-looking spaces that are otherwise impossible for most people to visit, such as a shipwreck which rests in the depths of the ocean".

This principle is the basis of the experiments started by the Computer Vision research group, directed by Torsello. By partnering with archaeologist and Marie Curie fellow Arianna Traviglia, computer techniques are combined with the study of the past, producing 3D models that allow you to view archaeological contexts that are inaccessible to most, giving the opportunity to visit them interactively.

"3D modeling has been used in a variety of applications in coastal, maritime and underwater archaeology for many years" - confirms Arianna Traviglia from Perth, Australia, where she is attending the Sixth International Conference of Underwater Archaeology (IKUWA6), which she co- organized.

Two sessions of the conference, in particular, precisely concern the latest technological developments related to the identification, study, monitoring and conservation of submerged paleo-landscapes and underwater sites. One of them, chaired by Arianna Traviglia, will consider the most used remote sensing methods to identify and detect structures and submerged archaeological landscapes.

Also being presented in this session will be part of the results of the VEiL project involving Traviglia and Torsello in the development of artificial intelligence techniques for the automatic identification of archaeological traces in emerged surfaces and shallow waters.