The Digital Restoration Initiative: A Cultural Heritage Imaging and Analysis Lab

FAIN: CHA-276882-22

University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, KY 40506-0004)
William Brent Seales (Project Director: May 2020 to present)

Renovation and expansion of the facilities of the Digital Restoration Initiative (DRI), a cultural heritage imaging and analysis lab, as well as the acquisition of imaging tools and equipment. The outcomes would enable the establishment of the “Ancient Worlds Now” consortium, which is dedicated to training and researching non-invasive analysis of delicate materials that hitherto have eluded research.

Advancing technologies now make it possible to image some of the world’s most fragile heritage items without inflicting harm, providing scholarly access to rich visual representations for study. Unfortunately, no facility exists specifically for the non-invasive imaging of friable objects or for investigating new technical approaches to the unique challenges they pose. The Digital Restoration Initiative (DRI), led by Professor Brent Seales at the University of Kentucky, seeks funding to fill this gap by creating a highly specialized, object-centered digital humanities laboratory focused on the non-destructive imaging and “virtual unwrapping” of damaged manuscripts and other delicate heritage objects, such as scrolls from Herculaneum.