Clepsydra is closely connected with MediaLab and focuses on the digitisation, preservation, organisation, management, promotion and dissemination of cultural heritage assets.
Founded in 2006, Clepsydra is hosted at the Athena Research and Innovation Centre in Xanthi, Greece. Its work covers the digital documentation of cultural objects, monuments and cultural heritage sites, with particular emphasis on 2D and 3D digitisation, digital replicas, 3D reconstruction, visualisation and the management of digital collections.
Clepsydra combines research expertise with specialised infrastructure for cultural heritage digitisation. Its equipment and methods include 3D laser scanning, terrestrial LIDAR, structured-light scanners, automated photogrammetry systems, multispectral cameras, professional photographic and lighting setups, drones, book and film scanners, video and sound editing systems, and custom experimental digitisation hardware.
Main areas of activity
- 2D and 3D digitisation of cultural heritage assets
- Digital replica generation
- 3D reconstructions based on architectural, historical and archaeological documentation
- Virtual, augmented and web-based dissemination of cultural assets
- Photorealistic and non-photorealistic visualisation
- Shape analysis, documentation and restoration support
- Digital repositories with annotation, indexing, retrieval and interactive visualisation
- Bespoke software tools for cultural heritage applications
- Experimental hardware development for 2D/3D data collection
Clepsydra has contributed to digitisation work involving major cultural heritage sites and objects, including monuments, museums, archaeological sites, urban areas and collections. Its work includes projects related to the Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Northern Greece, the Archaeological Museum of Delphi, the Delphi archaeological site, the old towns of Xanthi, Kavala, Serres, Argostoli and Drama, and other cultural heritage assets.
More information:
https://clepsydra.athenarc.gr