Wireless communication in monument conservation

The Information Communication Technologies are transforming our way to work and to live. Their social and economical impact represents a key opportunity for new development in every field of knowledge. The awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, and the needs of exploit and manage it: the number of visitors to museums, historical monuments and archaeological sites, grows day by day. The contribution is focussed on advanced technologies and ICT tools addressed to monument conservation and management taking advantage from the use of new mobile communications and wireless connections. The conservation of the built patrimony is a complex process, that involves different and numerous domains of knowledge: the aim is not only to preserve the physical instance of the built heritages, but also to promote the cultural dimension, to render them profitable and essential part of the social dimension. In order to comply with future developments the application: • has been thought like "open" platform: it is not limited to the present version, is susceptible of numerous integrations and applications in order to manage a process so complex as the conservation and valorisation of the cultural patrimony. • has been thought like platform "in becoming”: the structure of the system is much simple one, therefore to enable the update of software technology and data formats. Moreover, the set of technologies and data formats currently used are a subset of Internet technologies considered as de facto standards. One of the first extension of the system involves wireless computing. This subject was already included in the preliminary project but at the moment only few compatibility test took place. The system is based on internet technology and can be fully used from remote, the idea to take advantage from portable devices with wireless connection is the ideal solution in order to fully enjoy multimedia formats and computer assisted inspection. Portable devices enable on site use of the application, so that the surveyor should follow the instruction provided by the system and, in addition, a remote on line cooperation between the surveyor on site and an expert in the office is possible. Following the inspection in real time the expert should ask for a specific check or for a picture to be transferred via a wireless connection (i.e. smart phone). Some of the potential devices today should be tablet PCs, palm devices or smart phones with WI-FI local wireless connection or GPRS cellular connection. The tablet-PC constitutes the evolution of the portable PC. Occupying much little space, but being of equally powerful, it allows to work and to surf on Internet in any place and any situation. Tablet PC is mainly a flat LCD screen on which interacting with the simple use of a pen of the type currently already in use with palm devices. The interface is based on the metaphor "paper and pen" that makes incredibly natural the use of the computer. The writing comes exactly recognized with an appropriate software as it happens in pocket the PC. One of the characteristics of the Tablet is the use of wireless connections. The handheld devices are, instead, electronic apparatuses that, like the name suggests, keeps in one hand. This great family of computers ranges from pocket-PC (personal, evolution of palm devices, pertaining to the class of the PDA - Personal Digital Assistant) to smart phones (cell phones with PDA capabilities). The opportunity to pick up and store data on-site in real time thanks to portable devices reveals also an other aspect of fundamental importance: the direct and constant update of the data, immediately usable from other users. In the existing systems, instead, the off line update process due to a paper based data collection reduces the reliability of the content of the system. Integration of the system with the supports handheld concurs moreover the reasoned insertion of the data, so as to structure the cataloguing job according to very precise criteria and to guide, with functionality aimed, the inexpert surveyor to a more accurate inspection and to the collection of more reliable information.