00:00Up next, just to let you know, Econem, a French startup from Paris, founded by Yves Hubellman.
00:09They use 3D scanning drones and AI to digitally preserve cultural heritage, sites that are at risk of despairing.
00:27They have documented over 300 heritage sites and more than 40 countries.
00:34Ladies and gentlemen, I think she's ready.
00:37Yes.
00:38Let's welcome Andrea Louis, Chief of Staff of Econem.
00:46Hello, good afternoon Andrea.
00:52Hello.
00:53Hello.
00:54Thank you for being there.
00:55I am Andrea, Chief of Staff and Technical Project Manager at Econem.
01:00And I'm pleased to be here to present our work and our mission to help protect cultural heritage worldwide.
01:11I'd like to start with a few words on Econem's origin story.
01:15We were founded in 2013 by our president, Yves Hubellman.
01:20And at the time, he was an architect working as an archaeologist in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Syria.
01:26And there, amid ongoing conflicts, he was witnessing the past disappearance of archaeological sites.
01:32So he decided to rely on drones and photogrammetry, both of which were just becoming accessible to the public.
01:39And he started to take thousands of images of those sites, which were later processed into 3D models using photogrammetry
01:47pipelines.
01:48And those high-resolution 3D models were exact replica of those sites at a certain point in time.
01:57And they served both as a scientific record for archival and as a very valuable resource for experts to keep
02:05studying those sites, even after they disappear or they become inaccessible.
02:11Like this is the case, actually, with these archaeological sites in Afghanistan, which has become a mining area and is
02:18no longer available, yet it is still studied by experts, thanks to the 3D model.
02:26Digitally preserving those sites means we can record the states, but also that we can record the destruction and later
02:33enable the restoration efforts or the digital reconstruction of the lost states.
02:41We've witnessed wars affecting cultural heritage, but we've also witnessed other factors that play a significant role, like climate change
02:52and the rising sea level, or over-tourisms, with the many challenges it poses to even the well-maintained major
03:01sites.
03:01So for over 10 years, relying on this methodology we acquired through that urgent need for documentation, we have been
03:12operating worldwide on heritage sites from the most endangered to the most renowned.
03:18And we have gathered the largest data sets of high-resolution 3D scanning of heritage sites.
03:29None of this would have been possible without continuously committing to a strong research and development activity, nor without leveraging
03:38all of the new technologies out there in our work, or aligning with ecosystems like the 3D or GIS communities.
03:46And at first our data, the data we produced, was intended to support the work of the scientific community that
03:53was protecting heritage.
03:54But very quickly, we realized that these 3D models, these data sets, were powerful tools to create images.
04:02This led to our first exhibit in Paris at Le Grand Palais in 2016, where we created immersive movies from
04:11the 3D models of the places from which originated the artifacts that were on display there.
04:18And these images proved very useful to provide context to those objects and to enable the visitor a better understanding
04:27of the history of the human communities behind those landscapes and behind those objects.
04:35We have since combined our expertise in large-scale scanning and our expertise in creation of immersive film to develop
04:44many new ways of immerse the visitor and enable him to explore and experience cultural heritage.
04:51We have created lots of content, we have curated exhibits for major museums and cultural venues and even the sites
05:00directly all over the world.
05:03We have experimented with VR, with 360 projection, with online experiences and so on.
05:10So because we have these data sets, this expertise of creating images that can immerse the people into those places,
05:22we decided to create a catalogue of the world wonders.
05:26And I'll use the remaining time to introduce a few examples of this catalogue, starting with Venice.
05:32We had the chance in 2020 during COVID to scan the entire city of Venice, its lagoon, and the interiors
05:40of some of its palaces.
05:42We have the fullest coverage existing of the city.
05:46This data set has been first used for an exhibit in Paris, then it has been transformed and adapted to
05:52other formats for dissemination and diffusion in other museums, for curved screens or 360 rooms.
05:59And these very data sets from five years ago has been recently reworked to benefit from the latest innovation in
06:08the computer graphism pipelines.
06:10So with an extensive data set of the city, we are enabled to offer new exploration of the city and
06:17to explore the city through new themes and various themes.
06:21Like a navigation through its streets and canals inside the palaces, here are the Dutch palaces.
06:28And we can actually get inside, go through the wall and get closer, for example, of the masterpieces that are
06:35on the ceiling of the Dutch palace.
06:37Because they were painted by the Tintoretto, and it's quite hard to see them there, because they are 12 meters
06:44high.
06:44But with 3D, we can rediscover these paintings.
06:51We can get closer and see them better.
06:55Another milestone in our work was a very enriching, technically enriching project we did at the Vatican with Microsoft.
07:04In 2023, we were appointed with the complete scan of the Basilica di San Pietro in Rome and the creation
07:12of an exhibit on site.
07:15And so we scanned the whole place from the ground up.
07:18We created 3D historical restitution of the past sites of the Basilica.
07:25And these exhibits on sites that are massive projection on the roof and within the walls in spaces renovated for
07:33that purpose.
07:34And this project is a great example of how technologies can enhance preservation work.
07:42Because these data sets required over 400,000 images.
07:48Their processing into a 3D model would not have been possible without the efficiency of the modern GPUs and the
07:57advances in photogrammetry algorithms.
08:00It's also a great example of the various uses we can have of such data sets from the technical resources
08:08for architects and administrators to the creation of artistic and educational contents.
08:14With this data set, we were able to create this movie as a visit unlike any others where we can
08:20see through walls and we can show what's invisible to the naked eye because it's too far to see.
08:26We can show the structure and enable a better understanding of the monument.
08:32And for the story, the white spots that you can see in God's beard are actually spiderwebs that were there
08:42when we scanned.
08:43And the team in charge of the conservation of the monument did not know they were there.
08:46So they discovered it with the model and the first images.
08:49And since then, they've cleaned God's beard.
08:54I could talk for hours about this project.
08:57I'll just mention a few highlights that emerged from the technical collaboration between Econym and Microsoft.
09:05First, the data set allowed us to create an AI-based algorithm to automatically detect the tracks and the missing
09:12tiles in the cupolas that are currently being restored.
09:15And second, the transposition of the exhibits on site into a website considerably sped up the integration of a Goshen
09:24Splat viewer in Babylon.js.
09:26And for those of you who know Goshen Splat, you'll imagine that it was in 2024 and it was the
09:32first online exploration of such data that was at this level of detail and at this quality.
09:39We've also worked extensively on Anchor Rats and Anchor, the whole archaeological sites.
09:46We scanned over 30 temples there.
09:49We relied on the latest rendering engine to render water and vegetation that form a very significant part of the
09:58story of the sites.
09:59And with these images, we are able to immerse the visitor into a site that spans over 400 kilometers square
10:07for the protected area.
10:09And a last example, while I still have time, is Alula in Saudi Arabia, where the Nabathean Society, which dates
10:19back to the 4th century BC,
10:21carved masterpieces in the very recognizable landscape, rocky landscape of the deserts there.
10:28We have collaborated with a huge team of experts of the site, like we usually do,
10:33to create these images that combine with our scans, that provide a beautiful window into the past.
10:43Thank you very much for your attention, and we hope our work in documenting and sharing cultural heritage will inspire
10:50new ways of using technologies to care about what we have in common.
10:59Thank you, Andrea. Thank you so much.
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