EPOCH – “European research network on excellence in Processing Open Cultural Heritage”

EPOCH – “European research network on excellence in Processing Open Cultural Heritage”

Period: March 2004 - March 2008 Type: European Research Status: Completed

Overview

EPOCH is a network of about a hundred European cultural institutions joining their efforts to improve the quality and effectiveness of the use of Information and Communication Technology for Cultural Heritage.

Participants include university departments, research centers, heritage institutions, such as museums or national heritage agencies, and commercial enterprises, together endeavoring to overcome the fragmentation of current research in this field. EPOCH will combine expertise and resources of technologists, heritage administrators, heritage professionals and communication experts concerned with the effective and sustainable application of digital technology to archaeological research and cultural heritage presentation at museums, monuments, and historic sites. The overall objective of the network is to provide a clear organisational and disciplinary framework for increasing the effectiveness of work at the interface between technology and the cultural heritage of human experience represented in monuments, sites and museums.

MIRALab’s contribution

MIRALab will be working on two topics in the Joint Program of Activities. Firstly, MIRALab will contribute to the research in the Reconstruction and Visualisation field by integrating the current research on Human body modeling and Clothes simulation to the showcases Integration activities.

These showcases will be used to
• provide practical and appealing demonstrations of integrated technology
• highlight its concepts and advantages
• stimulate a creative adoption of that technology, and
• provoke feedback from the CH domain, from user to decision maker.

Secondly, MIRALab will work – in cooperation with the network Partners – on the Design and Implementation of the Common Infrastructure by:
• evaluating the existing technologies in the Virtual Human and Avatar field
• identifying the relevant formats and standards related to this technology
• identifying the Interfacing issues, and searching or developing tools to solve them in case this is possible with the modest ressources availible.