Digital Urban History Lab – Serious 3D in Research, Education and Popularization of Cultural Heritage

The paper deals with the impact of the digital transformation on the research, documentation and dissemination of historical information, with a focus on the spatial development history of cities. The Digital Urban History Lab aims to exploit the challenges and opportunities of this digital transformation to move one step closer towards ‘Serious 3D’ in research, education and popularization of cultural heritage. The use of digital 3D reconstructions in scholarly projects, documentaries, and exhibitions has become increasingly common. However, unresolved issues have arisen regarding the scholarly nature of these reconstructions and their findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability. The Digital Urban History Lab addresses the above questions using the example of reprocessing, documenting, and communicating the latest findings about medieval cities: Mainz, Worms and Speyer. The focus is on the sustainability of research data and includes the development of a CIDOC CRM referenced data model and a virtual research environment using Linked Data technologies. The Digital Urban History Lab represents an exhibition space where the 3D models are presented along with interactive access to the knowledge behind them. The focus of the consideration is the working method of a source-based hypothetical 3D reconstruction of the past, which is hidden behind the concept of ‘Scientific Reference Model’. Overall, the project illustrates the potential of scientifically based 3D models, supported by structured, semantically enriched, referenceable research data, which ensure accessibility and reusability, among others, for research, education, creative industries, etc.