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ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences Volume 42, Issue 2/W10, 17 April 2019, Pages 85-91 Underwater archaeological discoveries bring new challenges to the field, but such sites are more difficult to reach and, due to natural influences, they tend to deteriorate fast. Photogrammetry is one of the most powerful tools used for archaeological fieldwork. Photogrammetric techniques are used to document the state of the site in digital form for later analysis, without the risk of damaging any of the artefacts or the site itself. To achieve best possible results with the gathered data, divers should come prepared with the knowledge of measurements and photo capture methods. Archaeologists use this technology to record discovered arteacts or even the whole archaeological sites. Data gathering underwater brings several problems and limitations, so specific steps should be taken to get the best possible results, and divers should well be prepared before starting work at an underwater site. Using immersive virtual reality, we have developed an educational software to introduce maritime archaeology students to photogrammetry techniques. To test the feasibility of the software, a user study was performed and evaluated by experts. In the software, the user is tasked to put markers on the site, measure distances between them, and then take photos of the site, from which the 3D mesh is generated offline. Initial results show that the system is useful for understanding the basics of underwater photogrammetry.

In this paper, we propose a method based on pixel prediction to detect objects into a large image. We propose to integrate the Weighted Error Layer (WEL) in a Convolution Neuronal Network (CNN) architecture in order to weight the error during the back-propagation and to reduce the impact of the borders. We estimate the orientation of the objects when the detection step is achieved. Our proposed layer is evaluated on real data in order to detect amphorae on the Mazatos underwater archaeological site. © (2017) by the International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO). All rights reserved. 691 695

Throughout the history of the Mediterranean region, seafaring and trading played a significant role in the interaction between the cultures and people in the area. In order to engage the general public in learning about maritime cultural heritage we have designed and developed a serious game incorporating geospatially analyzed data from open GIS archaeological maritime sources, and archaeological data resulting from shipwreck excavations. We present a second prototype of the seafaring serious game, and discuss the results of an evaluation which involved a large multi-site user study with participants from three continents. More specifically, we present the evaluation of “The Seafarers” a strategy-based game which integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines in order to educate the user through playing. A first prototype was reported in Philbin-Briscoe et al. (2017) where an expert-user evaluation of the usability and the effectiveness of the game in terms of the learning objectives was performed. In this paper, we present how the outcomes of the evaluation of the first prototype “The Seafarers – 1” by expert-users were used in the redesign and development of the game mechanics for the second prototype “The Seafarers-2”. We then present our methodology for evaluating the game with respect to the game objective of engagement in learning about maritime cultural heritage, seafaring and trading in particular. Specifically, the evaluation was to test the hypothesis that game playing allows for more engaged learning thus improving longer-term knowledge retention. The evaluation was conducted in two phases and includes a pilot study, followed by a multi-site, multi-continent user-study involving a large number of participants. We analyze the results of the user evaluation and discuss the outcomes. This work is part of the EU-funded project iMareCulture and involves truly multi-continental, multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary cooperation – civil engineers and archaeologists from Cyprus, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) experts and Educationists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, and cultural sociologists and computer scientists from Canada.

Commercial sea routes joining Europe with other cultures are vivid examples of cultural interaction. In this work, we present a serious game which aims to provide better insight and understanding of seaborne trade mechanisms and seafaring practices in the eastern Mediterranean during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The game incorporates probabilistic geospatial analysis of possible ship routes through the re-use and spatial analysis from open GIS maritime, ocean, and weather data. These routes, along with naval engineering and sailing techniques from the period, are used as underlying information for the seafaring game. This work is part of the EU-funded project iMareCulture whose purpose is in raising the European identity awareness using maritime and underwater cultural interaction and exchange in the Mediterranean sea.