From Digitization to Virtual Exhibition of the University of Bologna’s “Collezioni di Antropologia”

This ongoing project addresses to create a virtual exhibition of the University of Bologna’s “Collezioni di Antropologia”. Due to the challenges in managing the collection and the high preservation risks, the aim is to create a new virtual, appealing and communicative collection setup. The virtual tour will be divided into three significant blocks representing the different sections of the exposed collections in the museum: paleoanthropology and prehistory, skeletal biology, and the origin of biological anthropology in Italy. Selected representative elements of the collection will be digitized using 3D structured light scanners, post-processed and optimized for online enjoyment. Finally, a virtual exhibition space will be modeled to display these elements helpfully for a proper understanding of the collections and their virtual exhibition. The online experience, enriched with accessible information and interactive tools, would provide a new and appealing key to increasing public engagement, bringing scientific knowledge to wider audiences, and fostering a deeper public understanding of human history.