The event, which was held in June 2020, was aimed at researchers, students and professionals working with museum and archive collections, digitalization and/or research strategies. The aim was to provide examples and advice on using metadata for research and outreach, inform about standards and practices regarding metadata, and highlight the benefits of heritage institutions collaborating with Academia in enriching collection metadata.
Event recorded on Zoom on the 9th of September 2020.
Invited speakers:
Jan von Bonsdorff at the Department of Art History
David Sumpter at the Department of Information Technology
Anna-Sara Lind at the Department of Law (not in the video)
Fredrik Wahlberg at the Department of Linguistics and Philology
Artificial Intelligence has been trending in human culture and society, from philosophy to science fiction and art, for decades. From Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, which, in a dystopian universe of biological and synthetic beings, were intended to protect humans from evil robots, to C-3PO and R2-D2 thwarting the Empire in Star Wars. AI is currently more than mere science fiction. Its broader and potentially more significant effects for humanity are yet to be researched and explored. Digital technology already raises new questions around epistemologies, ethics and policy regulations. But with cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), or Image Pattern Recognition (IPR) there are additional concerns. Can mathematics and algorithms, essentially descriptive models, encompass the human condition? Is AI and Machine Learning applicable to facilitate critical research that concerns different socio-cultural contexts? The seminar explores the societal implications of rapidly advancing intelligence systems, combining a humanities perspective with practical applications spanning historical research to contemporary legal inquiry.
Death in a Digital World: the (re)construction of a Bronze Age tomb from Ayios Vasileios, Greece, using Virtual Reality
Speaker: Yannick de Raaff (presenter); project with Sofia Voutsaki, Theo Verlaan, Gary Nobles, with help from the Reality Centre at University of Groningen Speaker affiliation: Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen
Abstract: During this seminar I shall present our work on the reconstruction of a built tomb found in the early Mycenaean (Bronze Age) cemetery of Ayios Vasileios, mainland Greece (approx. 1700-1420 BC). Built (Chamber) Tombs belong to a range of tombs with experimental design that appear in the late Middle Helladic and Early Late Helladic period, in a period characterised by innovations in the mortuary realm and changing social conditions. The collapsed tomb contained a large mass of stones that were arguably originally part of the superstructure, yet the exact form of cover or roof, and the way it was entered are not known. To understand the construction, use and collapse of the tomb, a number of digital techniques have been applied, such as Structure from Motion (also referred to as Photogrammetry) to record the remains of the tomb, and Virtual Reality to build and test various roof constructions. The objective of this study is to reconstruct what the most likely roof design was and how the tomb was re-entered for additional inhumations. We propose that the tomb was covered by a stone cairn, supported by a number of horizontally placed wooden beams, which broke due to natural decay and caused the stones to tumble inwards. The tomb received a large number of burials (25+), all from above, which means the roof was dismantled and rebuilt every time.
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An outlet for new ideas, research presentations and other outputs from the Digital Humanities Uppsala research network.
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