Tradition in Innovation. Some Considerations on SLAM Technique Integration for Historic Buildings

Digital processes for modelling the historic built environment have changed research methods, expanding the domain of knowledge that surrounds cultural heritage, involving different expertise. Research activities make use of methods and tools, thinking of methods as permanent concepts in a process in which hardware and software tools, on the contrary, change as a function of continuous digital evolution. To preserve a conscious knowledge of the artefact, it is appropriate to review the new modes of massive accumulation of information about processes consolidated in time and history. In the field of digital surveying, some techniques and technologies are more suitable than others for this critical reinterpretation, allowing the integration of innovative activities through the support of traditional concepts. We are talking about laser surveying using SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping) technology, which is particularly useful for surveying sites in inaccessible and difficult-to-reach locations. This technology presents a dynamic way of acquiring spatial information, centred on the prefiguration of capture paths capable of producing clouds of centimetric accuracy, which can be implemented through integration with other technologies. The integration process was tested on the monastery of St. Mary in Goranxi, a cultural asset located in southern Albania, as part of the MAECI mission; the project involved several local and Italian cultural institutions.