Harvard Archaeology Seminar Series
Yves Ubelmann (Iconem) and Bastien Varoutsikos (Iconem)
Today’s innovative technologies are transforming cultural heritage and archaeology. Within the realm of heritage preservation, 3D modeling has been the focus of conflicting opinions.
These new forms of recording and representation are, at the very least, seen as a new answer to old questions, but can also provide an entirely new approach to knowledge. However, 3D modeling and, sometimes, reconstruction, have also been accused of representing a particular type of cultural reappropriation, digital colonialism, or, at best, a digital gadget.
This talk will provide an overview of the work of Iconem, a French start up created in 2013 and operating in 30 countries around the world. After an introduction to Iconem’s approach, based on drone data acquisition and algorithms, to producing digital models of archaeological and cultural heritage sites, it will present how precise 3D models facilitate the documentation, assessment, preventative conservation, and restoration work of archaeologists and architects. It will finally address how developing an integrated network connecting academics, local communities, and the general public, that collaborate from acquisition to production, can help avoid the potential pitfalls of this field.