Production of Iranian Architectural Assets for Representation in Museums: Theme of Museum-Based Digital Twin

Abstract

Representation of architectural heritage artefacts with minimum risks to their authenticity has been advised by heritage guidelines; their transport for representation maximises the risk of destruction and questions the authenticity. Contemporary curators turn to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Mixed Reality for an improved representation but there are challenges related to audience accessibility, costs of asset transport to and lifecycle management with the museum platforms, and the potential threats to authenticity. Digital Twin (DT) as a revolutionary concept opens new doors to mitigate the challenges and may facilitate better access to the architectural heritage through digital experiences. In the long term, DT implementation costs may be offset by enabling wider access. This article presents the DT concept, the necessity of its adoption, the challenges of Digital Twining, benefits and opportunities, and reviews available curation practices of ‘digital asset’ production. The core contribution of this article is the comparative studies on two acquisition methods with two data streams presented as case studies. The two techniques, which engage hand recording and digital recording are detailed and compared in terms of construction time, tool requirements, representability, and the interoperability as well as extensibility of the models. This research is significant in two ways: 1) by presenting the analytic framework for adapting DT assets to the complex platforms in museums, and 2) by explicating the curatorial challenges for heritage assets including accessibility, implementation time, authenticity, and reliability of the 3D-documented models.