EPOCH

1. EPOCH The European Network of Excellence on ICT Applications to Cultural Heritage contract no. IST-2002-507382 EPOCH is funded by the European Commission under the Community´s Sixth Framework Programme, contract no. IST−2002−507382. However, the content of this presentation reflects only the authors´ (WP4) views and the Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein

2. EPOCH is a Network of Excellence under FP6 dealing with ICT(Information & Communication Technologies) Applications to Cultural Heritage Kick-Off: April 2004 End of EC funding: March 2008 Partners: more than 80, from most of the European countries, but also from USA, South Africa, Australia, and the Far East Mission: Foster Integration at a European Level What is EPOCH

3. Foster integration Stimulate cross-fertilization between humanities and technology Integrate research teams at a European level Create an integrated toolkit Create a joint research infrastructure Define research and dissemination standards Create a holistic approach to CH dissemination Spread excellence Provide a training framework Raise citizen’s awareness towards CH EPOCH goals

4. Cultural Heritage is an important factor: in determining tourists decisions on destination: Heritage is an important motivation factor Cultural tourism may be a pathway to economic development of less favoured areas for education of the citizen and appreciation of cultural diversity Education takes a large portion of national budgets Understanding each other’s culture will be one of the main challenges of the next generation of EU citizens ICT (“Intelligent Heritage”) can significantly enhance both sectors Why it matters

5. Council of Europe report Forward planning: the function of cultural heritage in a changing Europe Today, one of heritage's major roles is to strengthen cohesion and social ties in societies disrupted by all kinds of changes. The cultural and environmental spheres are becoming a preferred terrain for experimentation with citizenship, voluntary work and partnership." Technology has a part in delivering the potential benefits of increased understanding of the forces that have shaped our society, but the way the message is communicated is likely to determine whether the effects are positive or negative. UNESCO report 2001 “…Tourism has become a complex phenomenon …UNESCO’s objective is to help Member States to devise strategies for the long-term preservation of the cultural heritage, for better promotion and knowledge of the cultural heritage … thereby contributing to economic, social and cultural development." This recognises a clear inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural motivation…heritage and cultural tourism has the potential to add to quality of life - a motivation well beyond a simplistic economic return of individual visitor centres.

6. Access vs Preservation Physical access threatens preservation through wear and tear and environmental exposure Access at some level is a prerequisite for interpretation and to realising potential Facts vs Interpretation Our “knowledge” is almost always interpretation of fragile evidence, and interpretation is normally ambiguous Events even more uncertain than artefacts Accuracy requires uncertainty to be shown, but too much uncertainty and/or too many alternatives lead to confused messages Culture vs Culture Interpretation needs context for both original circumstance and viewed Much tangible heritage relates to e.g. religion or war – both emotive and multi-faceted (one culture’s heroic victory may be another’s dictatorial oppression) Challenges and tensions

7. Cultural heritage presents very challenging “real-user” requirements The challenge of mixing features which are still difficult to achieve in isolation is substantial. Example: data acquisition systems very low cost rugged for effective work under harsh conditions (the desert, the North, a dig) portable for use with pieces in museum suitable for fast deployment in emergency digs. Technological challenges

8. Unless action is taken: Assessment of interdisciplinary research will be in charge of professionals central to the individual disciplines. Proposals will often “fall between two stools”. Substantial evidence for this happening in national programs. Research teams likely to form around core values of the independent disciplines and not their synthesis. Project teams that pass the assessments likely to become less interdisciplinary and more focused on the independent criteria of the disciplines. Cultural Heritage as a sector likely to suffer more than most in this respect since it shares less of its traditional values and skill sets with IST than many other important usage bases (e.g. medicine, chemistry, biology). Obtaining recognition

9. To use technology to enhance preservation and scholarship in cultural heritage Accuracy and preservation v data volume Ontologies and searches (organising and representing knowledge) Digital preservation of CH To bring history to life for the citizen Digital reconstruction Story telling Visitor experiences Internet applications Education and Tourism benefit Grand Challenges

10. Field recording and data capture Data organization and standards Reconstruction and visualization Heritage education and communication Sustainability of heritage projects in order to produce A joint research infrastructure A complete toolkit to create ICT applications for CH A training framework Epoch Domains of Activity

11. The key concept is the pipeline: An integrated system of CH research and dissemination using ICT Produce valuable cultural communication by processing data with ICT INFORMATION Acquisition Documentation Processing Archiving Management Curatorship Preservation Image proc. Enhancing Reconstruct. Story-telling Communication The pipeline

12. WP1 = coordination is provided by the University of Brighton Four core partners Task forces working on activities Stakeholders input and feedback Review college formed by experts Open, cross-culture community with permeable borders Executive Committee Brighton PIN, Ename, KU-Leuven Board of Directors 18 members representing expertise, constituencies, etc. General Assembly 85 partners + affiliates ActivitiesWP1=Management

13. ActivitiesWP2=Integration • Co-ordinate partners’ work • Collect stakeholders needs and feedback • Watch the technology market and assess the potential impact of forthcoming ones • Undertake the implementation of showcases ENAME Images from EPOCH’s showcases 1 and 2

14. Activities WP3=Joint research • Define and create the common infrastructure • Lead research activity on “missing rings” in the production chain • Integrate existing components with new, targeted tools KU-Leuven Images from EPOCH showcases 3 and 4

15. Activities WP4=Spreading excellence • Manage a one-stop portal for ICT applications to CH • Foster standardization • Publish authoritative reports • Ensure mobility and training framework • Organize events & dissemination PIN Images from EPOCH showcases 7 and 8

16. Establish the network, setup the infrastructure and provide services Create a website offering various services Produce showcases using existing technology Start dissemination Produce reports Brokerage Stakeholder needs Training needs and offer VAST2004 conference Activities in 2004

17. www.epoch-net.org

18. Showcases list • On Site Reconstruction Experience • Multimodal Interface Safe Presentation of Valuable Objects • Tools for Stratigraphic Data Recording • Multilingual Avatars • E-tourism through Cultural Routes • Avatar-based Interactive Storytelling • Archaeological Documentation for the Semantic Web • Image-based Modeling

19. Dissemination report see next slide…

21. Bursaries & mobility Training (interim): Assign money to prepare new courses Fund preparation – not teaching Support less-favoured areas Perform surveys and produce reports Training needs and offer in Europe State of the Union: policies, practices & research Organize/support/attend events Publications Training and Mobility

22. Epoch PublicationsSee next slides…

27. Identify training needs Evaluate statistics Perform a survey Interview stakeholders Identify training offer Perform a survey Detail relevant courses Promote good practices Propose strategies & actions è CHIRON EST MARIE-CURIE Project Training project on Cultural Heritage Informatics Training needs & offer

28. Europe-wide integration of teams Implementation of results (showcases) Incubator of new projects Stakeholders awareness and needs Common standards Economic sustainability & management and decision tools Training framework EPOCH’s Activity(beyond project deliverables…)

29. Judy Brown - Past President of ACM SIGGRAPH in front of the rock art Success stories 1 Integration of teams and brokerage An UK team is collaborating with the University of Cape Town on a 3D scanning campaign on endangered rock carvings in South Africa. An Israeli researcher realized that problems are similar to those he is facing in the Negev desert and is going to apply similar methods.

30. Success stories 2 Implementation of results/showcases EPOCH showcases are quickly becoming a “marketing” tool for additional implementations. We have been spontaneously contacted by cultural institutions (towns, museums) to verify the feasibility of similar applications in their case. This witnesses the need of such work and the fair correspondence of our proposal to user needs. The nymphaeum at Sagalassos – EPOCH’s showcase 1

31. The CHIRON logo Success stories 3 Incubator for new projects To develop specific issues, EPOCH is nursing spin-off targeted projects, involving institutions from inside and outside the Network: • CHIRON, a successful Marie-Curie EST project CHIRON is due to start on next 1 December, joining 7 universities and research centres to provide a joint training framework for Early Stage Researchers on Cultural Heritage Informatics • ITER, an INTERREG 3C project ITER, to be submitted in short, joins three EPOCH partners as technology providers; six cities (Verona and Firenze, IT; Piran, SI; Valletta, MT; Pécs, HU; Chester, UK) as content providers, and two European institutions (Marco Polo System EEIG and Institut Européen des Itinéraires Culturels). ITER aims at developing IT applications to military architecture and its exploitation for cultural tourism, together with guidelines for implementation/sustainability • CHIMERA, a Marie-Curie RTN proposal

32. The logo of the Busteni course Success stories 4 • Creating an interdisciplinary training framework • Four courses with 100+ participants • Busteni, RO • Szazsalombatta, HU • York, UK (2) • 12 scholarships granted (7 women) in Eastern Europe • Over 3000 person/h of training • Manuals will be available in English and national languages (Hungarian, Romanian)

33. VAST 2004 Interdisciplinarity or “The Best of Both Worlds”: The Grand Challenge for Cultural Heritage Informatics in the 21st Century The 5th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage.- December 6, 2004 - Tutorials and EPOCH meetings - December 7-10, 2004 - The 5th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage.Incorporating: Second Eurographics Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage (www.eg.org) EPOCH General Assembly EPOCH SME meeting LocationConscience-auditorium, Brussels and Ename Center, Oudenaarde - Belgium

34. VAST 2004 VAST 2004

35. Acknowledgement EPOCH is funded by the European Commission under the Community’s Sixth Framework Programme, contract no. 507382. However, this presentation reflects only the authors’ views and the European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. For further informations please contact us at the EPOCH’s info mail address: info@epoch-net.org