Digitization of Maps Belonging to Cultural Heritage

Summary: Historical maps are an essential documentary heritage for the knowledge of territory. Digitization, in the case of old maps, cannot be a simple high-resolution twodimensional scan, but it has to detect the geometry of the supporting material. This work describes part of an on-going project, developed by the Laboratory of Photogrammetry of IUAV University, concerning the study of different methodologies and tools for the 3D digitization of old maps. In particular, high-resolution cameras, combined with a mechanical positioning system and appropriate software for the rigorous construction of “mosaics”, will be explored as a potential means of replacing the expensive large format flatbed scanners. The research aims to digitally record the shape of maps, not only considering their semantic content (printed image), but also their three-dimensional surfaces, and their subjection to time and deformations. Through the development of new algorithms, procedures and mechanical properties, it will be possible to obtain a rigorous threedimensional geometric memory of the original cartographic heritage.