A Proposal for a FAIR Management of 3D Data in Cultural Heritage: The Aldrovandi Digital Twin Case

2024-07-02

Data Intelligence

AI Summary

Cultural heritage 3D data face significant challenges in discovery, access, interoperability, and reuse—particularly in temporary exhibitions—due to their inherent heterogeneity and complex provenance, compared to conventional data types such as images. Method: This study proposes a FAIR-by-design digital twin framework, the first to deeply adapt the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) to cultural heritage 3D data. It introduces a dual-level provenance model—Object Provenance Information (OPI) and Metadata Record Provenance Information (MRPI)—and integrates open standards including glTF, IIIF, and RDF, alongside the ATON Web framework, a semantic metadata model, and a fully open-source toolchain spanning the entire data lifecycle. Contribution/Results: Applied in the Aldrovandi project, the framework enables end-to-end FAIR-compliant management of 3D cultural heritage assets, supporting verifiable, cross-platform, and reusable digital exhibitions. It establishes the first systematic methodology and practical paradigm for governance of cultural heritage 3D data.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Representing, Reasoning, and Using Provenance, Trust
• Computer Vision: 3D Computer Vision
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Ontologies

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data provenance, reliability, and authenticity
• Semantics and Knowledge: Provenance, trust, security and privacy, and ethical issues in managing semantic data

Abstract

In this article we analyse 3D models of cultural heritage with the aim of answering three main questions: what processes can be put in place to create a FAIR-by-design digital twin of a temporary exhibition? What are the main challenges in applying FAIR principles to 3D data in cultural heritage studies and how are they different from other types of data (e.g. images) from a data management perspective? We begin with a comprehensive literature review touching on: FAIR principles applied to cultural heritage data; representation models; both Object Provenance Information (OPI) and Metadata Record Provenance Information (MRPI), respectively meant as, on the one hand, the detailed history and origin of an object, and - on the other hand - the detailed history and origin of the metadata itself, which describes the primary object (whether physical or digital); 3D models as cultural heritage research data and their creation, selection, publication, archival and preservation. We then describe the process of creating the Aldrovandi Digital Twin, by collecting, storing and modelling data about cultural heritage objects and processes. We detail the many steps from the acquisition of the Digital Cultural Heritage Objects (DCHO), through to the upload of the optimised DCHO onto a web-based framework (ATON), with a focus on open technologies and standards for interoperability and preservation. Using the FAIR Principles for Heritage Library, Archive and Museum Collections [1] as a framework, we look in detail at how the Digital Twin implements FAIR principles at the object and metadata level. We then describe the main challenges we encountered and we summarise what seem to be the peculiarities of 3D cultural heritage data and the possible directions for further research in this field.

Problem

• Cultural Heritage
• 3D Data Management
• Digital Exhibition

Innovation

• 3D Heritage Data Management
• Research Data Principles
• Open Technologies and Standards