3D technologies for a critical reading and philological presentation of ancient contexts

This paper demonstrates how low cost 3D visualization techniques can be easily used for the transmission of historical and cultural content in museum communication strategy. Specifically, we used computer 3D animation graphics to present information about Queen Nefertari, the Maya chapel and the tomb of Kha in the specific exhibition in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Movie documentaries support the thematic itineraries of the rooms and offer a virtual trip to the places where the goods displayed were found. The same approach was used for the virtual reconstruction of two Pompeian contexts: the House of the Golden Bracelet and the House of Octavius Quartio. Our research allowed us to create an accurate representation of gardens, statues, architectural spaces, and pools with fountains and frescoed rooms, all virtually reproduced in their original context, using communication methods that combine technology with a synthetic and emotional approach. Techniques of close range photogrammetry made it possible to conduct a 3D survey of sixteen statues and other architectural elements; lost artefacts were reconstructed and areas destroyed by the eruption of 79 AD were evoked. The eruption was partially represented, with fluid dynamic simulations and computer graphics effects in order to transmit accurate scientific information in a simple and immediate language developed by lengthy technical experiments. The synthesis imposed by the short duration of the movie required matching all this information with a self-explanatory approach, which allows the visitor to understand the characteristics of the archaeological goods displayed in the exhibition in a general view that repeats colours, sounds and suggestions of the environments destroyed two thousand years ago.