A database of spatialized and semantically-enriched iconographic sources for the documentation of cultural heritage buildings

Conservation and valorization of cultural heritage buildings can be improved by providing public with access to information related to cultural sites. Particularly, the development of tools adapted to all kinds of audience and suitable to the requirements of the visit can create awareness among the general public about conservation. This article describes LOCUS IMAGINIS, an interactive and collaborative platform providing access to cultural information about monuments through personal snapshots. This platform enables to collect photographs taken by visitors. First of all, pictures taken by visitors are added into the database. Then, they are positioned in the 3D scene on the digital model of the monument and they are semantically annotated. As a consequence, this tool provides access to textual and graphic information describing the photographed site (semantic, spatial, historical entries, etc.). When visitors consult the database and select 2D images, these are superimposed onto a three-dimensional scene. Subsequently, visitors can interact both with images and the 3D-model to highlight building parts by color and to display textual information. Accessible on-site, LOCUS IMAGINIS is a support proposing an innovative approach in the case of educational workshops. Available on-line, visitors can extend their visit by recreating their journey through their own photographs and enrich it with information derived from the database.