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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | DECEMBER 29, 2000 FROM LE MONDE INTERACTIF Archaeologist Robert Vergnieux: "Laying the Groundwork for Technological Solutions" The French Egyptologist describes the "very powerful computer programs" that are creating exciting new ways to explore the past
Q: What needs do new technologies help meet for archaeologists? A: Archaeology is a science that generates very large quantities of information. The tendency, therefore, has been to be selective and work only with the most relevant documents. New technologies, by contrast, allow us to master a great deal of information. The more digs generate numerous documents, the more new technologies become unavoidable in cataloging the pieces found. Q: Does virtual reality also play a role in the management of such large quantities of information? A: In this field, the stakes are huge. But it is first necessary to distinguish between the creation of 3-D images and virtual reality. When we are looking at an ancient place that has been destroyed, both technological solutions are possible. The first creates a three-dimensional digital model to produce images and to give an idea of how the site may have looked originally. In this case, we are talking about 3-D images. The second is virtual reality, strictly speaking. Here, we also create a graphic reconstitution of a location, but this time it is dynamic. This way, I not only can walk around in the virtual reconstruction of a temple but I can access all the scientific information that corresponds to the site. To clarify, if in this temple I come across a column, for example, I can find out with one click which scientific data corresponds to what I am looking at. And if in a few years we discover new documents contesting or confirming the existence of such a column, all we have to do is update the database in our Internet server. The virtual space that has been created is, therefore, an environment that we can work on and that we can update. In our jargon, this is called "a graphic 3-D interface for managing scientific information." Q: To what degree are these new technologies making their way into the profession? A: We are in charge of laying the groundwork for technological solutions and succeeding in reorienting industrial development in relation to our needs. Today, we are working with very specific and powerful computer programs that, at this phase, are still relatively difficult to use. In five years' time, however, the interface will have progressed enough for it to be accessible to all our colleagues.  Translated by Inka Resch  | | |
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