Skip to main content
Politecnico di Milano
Department of Mechanical Engineering

PERVIVAL – Virtual paths for the enhancement of complex museum collections in the Milan area

PERVIVAL is a multidisciplinary project developed by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, funded through a contribution from Fondazione CARIPLO.

PERVIVAL has developed an interactive system with the function of explaining a "complex" museum collection, indicating a mix of physical objects, exhibited in the museum, and intangible components that make their function explicit. This system has been applied to improve ancient Egypt's grave goods, characterized by a multiplicity of objects rich in symbolism and linked together through elaborate rituals.

This system, applied to the Egyptian section of the Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan, is currently installed as part of the exhibition “Sotto il cielo di Nut: Egitto Divino” and will be visible, with the reopening of the Milan museums, from 30 May until 20 December 2020.

The contents of the application are based on the 3D digital reproduction of artistic artifacts, obtained using laser scanning, photogrammetry and computer tomography. The connection between the different objects, represented by the application from their 3D digital replicas, provides a more comprehensive understanding of the elements of the collection that will be more easily perceived as a harmonious set of complementary features, representative of a specific historical-cultural context.

The digital application of the project was developed in collaboration with the Archaeological Museum of Milan, with the contribution of the anthropologists of the laboratory LABANOF at the University of Milan, and the financial contribution of the Cariplo Foundation. Within MeccPolimi the research team was coordinated by Prof. Gabriele Guidi, director of the 3D survey and modeling. Prof. Giandomenico Caruso was responsible of the interactive application development, while Postdoc Laura Micoli provided 3D survey and modeling, narrative structure, interactive application development and project communication. Sara Gonizzi Barsanti, who recently earnead a PhD at MeccPolimi, supported for survey and 3D modeling.