ICT and Semantic BIM Technologies for the Advanced Documentation and Condition Assessment of Cultural Heritage Sites

The paper reports the results of a research project funded by the University of Ferrara (FIR 2020 Program) and aimed at developing and testing some achievements of the project “INCEPTION - Inclusive Cultural Heritage in Europe through 3D semantic modelling” (H2020 EC funded research project). The tests carried out on the INCEPTION platform functions, outcome of the research project and subsequently implemented by the homonymous spin-off, have shown the potential of semantic-BIM technologies in the field of Cultural Heritage sites maintenance. Novel and innovative applications grounded on the platform core functions include: tools and protocols for the management of inspection procedures supported by information and instructions provided by the platform; assessment, based on inspection data, of the condition of the site and/or individual parts based on a “condition scale”; access to constantly updated condition information, shown on the virtual model as linked to the objects of the BIM model; remote analysis and evaluation of site condition data through interaction, in a virtual environment, with 3D model “objects”. The paper presents the main elements of the ongoing experimentation: the matrixes for the automatic analysis of the detected data and the assignment of the “condition score”, the structure of the ontology with which the semantic tools of the platform operate, the workflows for data loading phases such as: in situ inspections, remote monitoring, planning of interventions. The tests on features and procedures reported in the paper have been carried out on the 3D model of the church of Santa Maria delle Vergini in Macerata, as part of a wider collaboration between the INCEPTION spin-off company and the ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) of the MIC (Ministero della Cultura).