Cover Image: false-color representation of a fragment of a Roman mosaic depicting a jaguar, part of the floor decoration of a 2nd–3rd century CE domus at the archaeological site of Saltara, Marche (Italy). This mosaic is the focus of the study presented in the article “GIS Approach for Mosaic Tesserae Recognition by Supervised Image Classification” by Vincenzo Alfio et al., which introduces a machine learning-based classification method applied to orthoimages of mosaics. The method categorizes individual tesserae, reduces the time and subjectivity associated with manual digitization, and identifies possible differences in tesserae arrangement and size, providing valuable insights for conservation and analysis.

Cover Image: 3D reconstruction of the Potter's Workshop at Quartier Mu at Malia (Katerina Messini). The paper titled "Senses and Activities: a Virtual Reconstruction of the Potter’s Workshop and the North Area of Quartier Mu at Malia (c. 1800-1700 BC)," authored by Bastien Rueff, Alexander Pinto, Katerina Messini, and Haris Procopiou, introduces the process followed to generate the digital reconstruction of the sensory space in which craft activities took place in the Quartier Mu at Malia, an urban district dating to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC in Crete.

Cover Image: Palazzo Diotti, a neoclassical marvel situated in Milan, Italy, has served as the office of the Prefect of Milan since 1859. Originally constructed during the early 16th century, it underwent extensive reconstruction over a two-decade period starting in 1782 when it was acquired by Giovanni Battista Diotti, a prosperous lawyer and amateur architect. The paper titled "3D Heterogeneous Dataset for Structural Analysis of Historic Buildings: A Discussion on Process Pipelines," authored by Umair Shafqat Malik, Andrea Garzulino, and Davide Del Curto, introduces a methodology for generating a comprehensive heterogeneous 3D dataset tailored to assess the structural integrity of historical edifices. The study applies this methodology to evaluate the seismic vulnerability and structural behavior of Palazzo Diotti.

Digital documentation of the ruins of the grotto triclinium of the Roman Villa of Capo di Sorrento, Italy, shown in the article "Mixing Methods – The Use of 3D Techniques at the Ancient Villa of Capo di Sorrento" by Steven Götz et al., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
The digital 3D model made with photogrammetry integrates reconstructed elements that fill the gaps of lost architectural structures, such as the reconstructed water staircase, which no longer exists today.

There is an ongoing evolution of digital survey-based practices from linear to cyclic workflows. Past and current innovative projects, including EU initiatives (COST-COSCH, SCAN4RECO, ITN-CHANGE), are no longer one-shot isolated case study applications that build and explore a single-sourced digital model. Instead, Digital Heritage (DH) innovation is related to complex scenarios where the digital model is used to represent, renew, and discuss over time the added knowledge of multi-source virtual reconstruction. We cannot consider our production methods made of straightforward I/O operative chains; instead, we should see them as part of a system. Involving the principle of a systemic approach helps to embrace the multiplicity and complexity of DH practices and supports the definition of multimodal layers. The cover image shows a diagram of multimodal layers in the Cultural Heritage domain.

Spatial analyses that integrate multiple technologies are valuable tools in landscape archeological research because they reveal aspects of landscapes that are not evident to the naked eye. Integrating such information with 2D and 3D imaging techniques from the ground or the sky provides an abundance of data that requires new approaches for interpretation and analysis.

Cover image: Frequency of visibility map for the area of Almyros2, a settlement belonging to the Middle Neolithic period in the region of Thessaly in Greece, discussed in the paper "A methodological approach for intra–site analysis of prehistoric settlements," by Maria Cristina Manzetti and Apostolos Sarris.

This issue presents four papers covering various topics ranging from the assessment of digital experiences in museums; the potential for virtual reconstruction in the realm of printing made in early 1600; the added value of 3D digitization in the multiscale survey of three monumental fountains in Rome; and the diachronic reconstruction of a Roman bridge in Puglia (Italy).

Cover image: Augmented Reality (AR) visualization of the sculpture "Laocoön and His Sons" conserved at the Uffizi Gallery Museum in Florence. It is a copy of the original Roman statue conserved Vatican Museum in Rome, made by the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli in 1520.
The high-resolution 3D model, digitized at the Uffizi Gallery in 2017 through the auspices of the Indiana University-Uffizi 3D Digitization Project, was integrated with other 3D models, text/audio narratives, and educational animations in an app for museums. The paper "3D Reproductions of Cultural Heritage Artifacts: Evaluation of Significance and Experience" by Malik, Tissen, and Vermeeren propose a possible approach for assessing the significance of the museum experience mediated through this type of tool.

After a decade’s worth of groundbreaking transformation in archaeological practices, contentious debates over the value and practicality of 3D tools, such as photogrammetry, 3D scanning, 3D reconstruction, and virtual reality (VR), have given way to an emergent consensus that these constitute a new and vital class of recording and heuristic instruments.  This special issue originated from discussions at the 2019 annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in the panel, “Three-Dimensional Archaeology Comes of Age,” and presents a characteristic cross-section of current research in Mediterranean Archaeology based in three-dimensional computational methodologies.

Cover Image: Tunnel and Well Complex in the Roman Villa of Vacone (Rieti), Italy, 3D digitized between 2016 and 2018 in the framework of the Upper Sabina Tiberina Project.

Rendering of the textured 3D model of "the tomb of Padinist" in the necropolis of Saqqara, Egypt, by Matthias Lang, Philippe Kluge, Ramadan Hussein and Benjamin Glissmann from the universities of Bonn and Tübingen in Germany. The methodological approach for obtaining this result is described in their paper "Digital Documentation of the Saite Tombs in Saqqara.”

We present here six papers belonging to the special issue on "Digital Humanities for Academic and Curatorial Practice," coordinated by Angelica Federici, University Roma 3, Italy, and Joseph Williams, Duke University, Durham (NC), USA.

Cover image: Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519), "The head of Leda", Black chalk, pen and ink on paper. Image by courtesy of the Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

This special issue presents two standard research articles and five papers belonging to the special issue on "Digital Heritage Technologies, Applications and Impacts," coordinated by Laura K. Harrison, University of South Florida, Tampa (FL), USA.

Cover image: Virtual reconstruction of a life-size sculpture belonging to the Great Temple of the Aten in el-Amarna (Egypt), originated by the "Torso of Akhenaten," conserved in the Brooklyn Museum.

This special issue presents a selection of 5 of the best papers published at the conference Cultural Heritage and New Technologies (CHNT 22), held in Vienna in November 2017. 

Cover image: Virtual reconstruction of the access doors for the nameless Roman temple in Tipasa (Algeria). 

This special issue presents interdisciplinary studies about the complex phenomenon that takes place during the aesthetic and synesthetic involvement of a human observer in the perception of cultural heritage and art mediated by virtual and augmented reality or other forms of multimedia technologies.
The objective is to create a snapshot of the current state of the art about transdisciplinary methodological approaches. 

Cover image: In the Mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano. Exhibition designed by Perla Gianni Falvo in 2010 at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy, as Users Experience (UX) aiming at placing the visitor "inside" the work of art.