NATIONAL PHD IN HERITAGE SCIENCE

Thesis title: LA VALORIZZAZIONE DEL GEMELLO DIGITALE COME SISTEMA VIRTUALE MULTI-SCALA PER UNA NUOVA DEFINIZIONE DI MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO DEL TERRITORIO. LA VIA FLAMINIA NEL TRATTO MARCHIGIANO

The research developed in this thesis addresses the theme of the digital twin as a tool for reconnection and regeneration of archaeological heritage within a territorial museum ecosystem. The aim is not mere enhancement, but the creation of a digital harmony system in which the material and immaterial components of heritage — such as the artifact, its context, and its narrative — converge in a circular process of knowledge. The “new museum” is conceived as a dynamic and distributed infrastructure, capable of linking data, places, and people, thereby overcoming the traditional separation between conservation and fruition. The investigation unfolds along the Via Flaminia in the Marche region, taken as both a testing ground and the backbone of a broader project of cultural reconnection. The research is structured into three complementary scenarios, each corresponding to a different scale of interpretation of heritage. The first, focused on the enjoyment of movable heritage, explores the passage from excavation to display — that is, the digital restitution of the artifact and its immersive narration. The second scenario addresses the management of the city’s widespread underground heritage, introducing HBIM models and cloud platforms as tools for digital documentation and maintenance. The third scenario, developed at Forum Sempronii, represents the operational synthesis of the model: the site’s multi-scale digital twin integrates HBIM, GIS, and XR data into a single connected 3D database, from which two complementary modes emerge — immersive fruition (VIM) and immersive operational management. In the former, the user explores the triclinium of the Domus of Europa in mixed reality, witnessing the narrative reconstruction of its mosaic and furnishings; in the latter, the user interacts with the model to query data and create digital segmentations and annotations directly in situ. All operations are synchronized via the cloud, ensuring semantic coherence between visualization and management. The result is a connected museum ecosystem in which knowledge of heritage is no longer static but circular, continuously updated through data and the communities that produce it. The digital twin thus becomes a cognitive and participatory infrastructure, capable of giving the archaeological museum of the territory a new role: that of a dynamic space of dialogue between territory, heritage, and community.