Strategies for the Digitalization of Cultural Heritage

The COVID-19 pandemic caused despair, poverty and, above all, pain and death across the planet. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that it has also given a strong global impetus to the digital world, asserting its importance, sustainability and richness of perspectives. With our work we intend to establish a set of best practices aimed at defining methods and technologies that will enable those fascinated by digital technologies to contribute effectively to the digitisation of cultural heritage on a large scale. Various aspects that play a crucial role in the digitisation of artifacts will be discussed, with a focus on the issues involved in the manual realisation of works using Blender and Unity software. For demonstration purposes, two very popular use cases in the Umbria region of Italy are presented: "Piazza IV Novembre" in Perugia with the magnificent "Fontana Maggiore", the "Palazzo dei Priori" and the Duomo on one side and the Republic square in Foligno on the other, with the Duomo, the Bishop's house and the Diocesan Museum, the Town Hall and "Palazzo Trinci". The first realization was carried out using photogrammetry techniques, the software Blender and Unity, while the second was carried out exclusively with Blender and Unity. The theme is highly relevant in Europe, particularly Italy, where the topic is part of the post-COVID-19 National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

Strategies for the Digitalization of Cultural Heritage

The COVID-19 pandemic caused despair, poverty and, above all, pain and death across the planet. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that it has also given a strong global impetus to the digital world, asserting its importance, sustainability and richness of perspectives. With our work we intend to establish a set of best practices aimed at defining methods and technologies that will enable those fascinated by digital technologies to contribute effectively to the digitisation of cultural heritage on a large scale. Various aspects that play a crucial role in the digitisation of artifacts will be discussed, with a focus on the issues involved in the manual realisation of works using Blender and Unity software. For demonstration purposes, two very popular use cases in the Umbria region of Italy are presented: “Piazza IV Novembre” in Perugia with the magnificent “Fontana Maggiore”, the “Palazzo dei Priori” and the Duomo on one side and the Republic square in Foligno on the other, with the Duomo, the Bishop’s house and the Diocesan Museum, the Town Hall and “Palazzo Trinci”. The first realization was carried out using photogrammetry techniques, the software Blender and Unity, while the second was carried out exclusively with Blender and Unity. The theme is highly relevant in Europe, particularly Italy, where the topic is part of the post-COVID-19 National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). © 2022, The Author(s).

Strategies and System Implementations for Secure Electronic Written Exams

The pandemic has accelerated the process of digitization in many fields, highlighting some critical issues that have slowed the development of digital technologies in many areas. One of these is undoubtedly that of skills assessment, which on a digital platform is a more streamlined, reliable and faster process and allows some individuals from disadvantaged groups to be able to carry out the exam more easily.We present some strategies for enabling online remote secure written exams and their implementation through the open-source system LibreEOL. The system can be used for university exams (in presence or from remote locations) and training courses of all types to evaluate the effectiveness of learning in itinere, i.e., before, during and after a course, to provide quantitative data on training effectiveness. We outline the architecture of the services underpinning the system and the logical organisation of the various user roles and content relating to questions and exam delivery. We describe the algorithms that have allowed us to develop an environment that appears to be an essential aid both for teachers and students in light of the questionnaires conducted on students. The system is successfully used in the EchemTest®, promoted by the European Chemistry Thematic Network, and allows comparison of chemistry training outcomes in different European countries. Despite the importance, it has taken on in the last two years due to the pandemic, such a system makes it possible to carry out a valuable skills assessment. Author

Rapid prototyping of virtual reality cognitive exercises in a tele–rehabilitation context

In recent years, the need to contain healthcare costs due to the growing public debt of many countries, combined with the need to reduce costly travel by patients unable to move autonomously, have captured the attention of public administrators towards tele-rehabilitation. This trend has been consolidated overwhelmingly following the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made it precarious, difficult and even dangerous for patients to access hospital facilities. We present an approach based on the rapid prototyping of virtual reality, cognitive tele-rehabilitation exercises, which reinforce the group of exercises available in the Nu!reha platform. Patients who experienced injury or pathology need to practice continuous training in order to recover functional abilities, and the therapist needs to monitor the outcomes of such practices. The group of new exercises based on the rapid prototyping approach, become crucial especially in this pandemic period. The Virtual Reality exercises are designed on Unity 3D to empower the therapist to set up personalized exercises in an easy way, enabling the patient to receive personalized stimuli, which are essential for a positive outcome in the practice. Furthermore, the reaction speed of the system is of fundamental importance, as the temporal evolution of the scene must proceed parallel to the patient’s movements, to ensure an effective and efficient therapeutic response. So, we optimized the virtual reality application in order to make the loading phase and the startup phase as fast as possible and we have tested the results obtained with many devices: in particular computers and smartphones with different operating systems and hardware. The implemented method powers up the Nu!Reha system®, a collection of tele-rehabilitation services that helps patients to recover cognitive and functional capabilities. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.