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EPOCHThe European Network of Excellence
on ICT Applications to Cultural Heritage
contract no. IST-2002-507382
What is EPOCH
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 85, from most of the
European countries, but also from USA, South Africa, Australia, and the Far East
• Mission:Foster Integration at a European Level
Which needs we address
ProliferationToo many “bricks”, but how many “houses”?
Foster cross-fertilization
Think globally
Re-use results
Adopt a holistic view
Aim at durability and sustainability
Give young people a chance
Lack of coordinationOverlapping (duplicating?) projects
Fragmentation• Lots of big projects on small issues• What happens to project consortia when
the project ends?
Insufficient communication• Do culture professionals trust technology? • Do engineers understand culture?
Limited opportunities for training
Sensitivities – what makes Cultural Heritage unique?
• Physical Cultural Heritage Lasting legacy of human experienceRepresents lives and aspirations of the past
• Everyone has heritage (cf health, education)• All elements unique, vulnerable and fragile• BUT there are few votes (and hence tax
support) in preservation• Revenues require access (education,
tourism, entertainment)
Embedded interdisciplinarity
• Definition of success depends upon perspective (heritage v technology)
• Tension between access and 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
• Technologists should try to ease tension
Facts v interpretation
• Our “knowledge” is almost always interpretation of fragile evidence
• Interpretation is normally ambiguous• Events even more uncertain than artefacts• Accuracy requires uncertainty to be shown• Too much uncertainty and/or too many
alternatives lead to confused messages• This is another challenge
Cultural Interpretation
• Beyond the factual• Interpretation needs context for both original
circumstance and viewed• Much tangible heritage relates to religion or
war – both emotive and multi-faceted• One culture’s heroic victory may be
another’s dictatorial oppression• In general the older the artefacts or events
the less emotive the interpretation
Grand Challenges
1. To use technology to enhance preservation and scholarship in cultural heritage Accuracy and preservation v data volume Ontologies and searches (organising and
representing knowledge)
2. To bring history to life for the citizen Digital reconstruction Story telling Visitor experiences Internet applications Education and Tourism benefit
Epoch Activity
• Field recording and data capture• Data organization and standards• Reconstruction and visualization• Heritage education and communication• Sustainability of heritage projectsin order to produce • A joint research infrastructure • A complete toolkit to create ICT applications for CH• A training framework
Integrate EEC into the EC – standards, Integrate EEC into the EC – standards, knowledge transfer and cooperationknowledge transfer and cooperation
The pipeline
The key concept is the pipeline:• Produce valuable cultural communication by
processing data with ICT
AcquisitionDocumentation
ProcessingArchiving
ManagementCuratorshipPreservation
Image proc.Enhancing
Reconstruct.Story-telling
Communication
INFORMATION
Management
• 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 CommitteeBrighton
PIN, Ename, KU-Leuven
Board of Directors18 members
representing expertise, constituencies, etc.
General Assembly85 partners+ affiliates
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
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
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 &
disseminationPIN
Images from EPOCH showcases 7 and 8
Activities in 2004• Establish the network, setup the infrastructure and
provide services• Produce showcases using existing technology
1. On Site Reconstruction Experience2. Multimodal Interface Safe Presentation of Valuable Objects3. Tools for Stratigraphic Data Recording4. Multilingual Avatars5. E-tourism through Cultural Routes6. Avatar-based Interactive Storytelling
7. Archaeological Documentation for the Semantic Web8. Image-based Modeling
• Start dissemination• Produce reports
Dissemination & training
• Bursaries & mobility• Training (interim):
Assign money to prepare new coursesFund preparation – not teachingSupport less-favoured areas
• Perform surveys and produce reportsTraining needs and offer in EuropeState of the Union: policies, practices & research
• Organize/support/attend events• Publications
State of the Union Report
• Yearly report onPoliciesPracticesResearchNeeds
in Europe, to be printed and circulatedAvailing of correspondents Interviewing stakeholdersSelected articles on specific issuesCreating an on-line database
• 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 CHIRON
EST MARIE-CURIE Project Training project on Cultural Heritage Informatics
Training needs & offer
Training activity in Summer 2004
• Four courses planned with 100+ participantsYork, UK (2)
Busteni, RO
Szazsalombatta, HU
• 12 scolarships granted (7 women)
• Over 100 h of training
• Manuals will be available in English and national languages
More information
www.epoch-net.org
AcknowledgementEPOCH 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.