Tighten those togas Re/Cappers, we shall get Roman this Re/Cappin’ day.
While there is novelty in the project we’ll soon highlight (there’s a “geo” word that isn't “geospatial” or “geographic”), Roman ruins and modern reality capture go way back. In fact, Roman ruins and any capture go way, way back.
As in the 1440s, when historian Flavio Biondo pretty much single-handedly birthed Renaissance archeology with the first survey of, and subsequent “guidebook” to, Roman ruins. His Roma instaurata was The Godfather of finally grasping what ancient Rome was like, both topographically and functionally.
Roma instaurata’s table of contents. Now which has directions to those famous baths? Image credit History of Information
So THAT guy’s a gangster. And he’d be elated with how far Roman ruinage has come, as numerous examples continue illuminating arguably the most captivating empire to ever exist/be fanned and fed grapes. Examples such as:
The Unique Mobile Mapping of an Ancient Roman City in Spain
Remote Sensing Ancient Roman Roads in the U.K.
Preserving a Roman ‘Billionaire’s Villa’ with 3D Laser Scanning
AR and Digital Reconstruction Bringing Roman Ruins to Life
Documenting and Preserving the Iconic Walled City of Volterra
Separate Volterra Project with Video
Laser Scanning Cloaca Massima, the Roman Forum’s Sewer System (EPIC read)
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what is and is not authentic Italian pizza.
What’s Cappenin’ This Week: Geophysical survey goes back 1,900 years, recycling gets primed for disruption, Intel pushes their chips into ConTech, drones get exhaustively ranked, and an AEC Error of the Week that made MIT say WTF.
Mini ‘Cappenins: Conference team up, huge drones + crop sprays, IoT security, iPhone survey + mapping, ChatGPT + robots, BIM + A/V
Last week on WWII submarines getting modeled and honored, crops getting modeled & printed, North Africa getting giddy for public health GIS mapping, smart cities getting ranked, and the U.K. getting a gusty day for an AEC Error of the Week.
There’s cool, then there’s Roman cool. The 1,600-hectare Attingham Estate in England’s West Midlands was the former, and now it’s the latter.
The National Trust, the independent conservation body which owns the estate, commissioned their largest survey yet of the property. The results, born from innovative scanning and geophysical workflows? Ruins of two villas and a cemetery. Talk about dead on!
An imagining of the Attingham Roman Villas, possibly one of Russell Crowe’s vacation homes before he got tied up in that whole gladiatorial thing. Image credit Jennie Anderson/Newsweek
Great though the discovery is, it’s not shocking, given that the region is near one of Roman Britain’s most populous cities, Wroxeter. You know a historic preservation story’s big when Newsweek runs with it, so conquer your curiosity the way the empire did continents, below.
Spartan Scanning Solutions Founder & President Anthony Butchbaker knows that a good way to change the world is to start by changing one thing. And he wants that “lighthouse for change” to be steel, and specifically, its recycling.
Exhibit A of what people in 2300 will probably facepalm over. Image credit Service Steel Warehouse
His passion, knowledge, and roadmap were irresistible for Recycling Today, which corralled him for an expansive interview. Framed around use cases for steel mills and auto shredders, it explores Spartan’s four prime objectives, geo-referencing, modules, energy savings, and much more.
Intel has emphasized building as a cornerstone of continued relevance, as billions are being poured into fabs and related projects. And to apparently optimize the mission, their VC squad is giving millions to someone else as well.
Buildots at work. May also help you to your movie seat when you’re late and ruining everyone’s trailer experience. Image credit Buildots/TechCrunch
Buildots, based out of the U.K. and Israel, specializes in construction site digital twins sourced from 360° cameras, AI, and computer vision. While there’s been no direct confirmation by either party of a collaboration, connecting the dots between what Intel needs and what Buildots does, seems all too easy. Story below courtesy of TechCrunch.
Okay, maybe it was within their commercial-friendly Buyline division, but still!
And what a goldmine it is; detailed specs are only the tip of this rankings iceberg.
FPV drones, one of the many AP rankings, are also a great imagine-explaining-to-a-1700s-person technology. Image credit PetaPixel
You’ll get breakdowns on budget and premium drones, entry-level and professional, long-flight, you name it. All with pricing, likes & dislikes, and more.
MIT’s Ray and Maria Stata Center. Image credit Bad Architecture
You might think the “M” in MIT stands for Massachusetts. But after the Ray and Maria Stata Center’s construction on its campus, the Moldy Institute of Technology may have been more apt.
‘Cause fungus was a mere appetizer round of catalysts for the 2007 lawsuit MIT brought to none other than Pritzker-prize winning architect Frank Gehry. His topsy-turvy, tilty-twisty $300 million complex quickly became infamous for its persistent leaks, cracking masonry, poor drainage, and even sliding ice and snow that blocked emergency exits. This temple of innovation morphed into a case study of what happens when aesthetics overshadow functionality.
But just as Ghery likely dreamed of the Stata being more Alpha than Beta, one can dream of how reality capture would have kept a stable of lawyers on the golf course and out of the courthouse.
BIM would have been a titanic WIN for Gehry's wild design, ensuring every pipe, beam, and oddly angled wall is accounted for. Count on metrology to have ensured those prefabricated components fit together with Swiss-watch precision. Those tilting walls? They're exactly as tilted as they're supposed to be, no more, no less.
Drones could have buzzed about the site like hummingbirds on testosterone supps, spotting potential water ingress points that human inspectors missed. Heck, with curvature like this, how useful and fun would 360° camera-based virtual walkthroughs have been, whether stakeholders were in Tempe or Timbuktu.
Today’s lesson? When your building looks like it defies gravity, make sure it doesn't also defy functionality and fire marshals. Embrace tech, or embrace your umbrella.
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