Fabrizio Galeazzi

Fabrizio is a cultural heritage and creative technology scientist. His research explores the combination of 3D interactive visualisation, immersive technologies (VR, AR, MR) and multimodal storytelling to develop cutting-edge solutions for heritage preservation and revitalisation, community engagement and sustainable development.

[email protected]

Background

Fabrizio joined StoryLab in 2019, leading new multidisciplinary research that explores the integration of 3D interactive/immersive visualisation with multimodal narratives and data archiving to foster the preservation of and access to cultural heritage data, as well as build community resilience to conflict and climate change.

Fabrizio applies rapid prototyping, speculative design, and agile creative practice methodologies to his research to explore, reflect on, and evidence the connections between digitally reproduced tangible heritage and communities’ identities and values (i.e., intangible heritage). An example of his work is the Reviving Kusunda project funded by the British Academy and presented at the British Academy Summer Showcase 2022 and on BBC World News.

Fabrizio completed a PhD in Digital Heritage at University of California and held academic posts at the University of York and University of East Anglia, looking at the impact of 3D technologies and online participatory infrastructures on heritage research. He has facilitated a number of cross-disciplinary projects including a Marie Skłodowska Curie European Fellowship. For this project he developed a web-based interactive environment for the management and analysis of archived 3D data. A 3D Viewer was developed for the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York, and within the framework of the European ARIADNE infrastructure project. The tool has since been adopted by the ADS and the open access journal Internet Archaeology.

Fabrizio has developed several knowledge transfer partnerships, including the KTP-Innovate UK Immersive Antarctica project in collaboration with UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and the UNESCO Network for Mediterranean Youth, aimed at equipping partner youth organisations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with new IT skills to support their engagement for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

Fabrizio is also member of the Climate Heritage Network, Immerse UK and Cambridge Wireless, as well as advisory board member of The Virtual Experience Company.

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Spoken Languages

• Italian
• English

Research interests

Fabrizio’s interdisciplinary research explores the combination of digital technologies, immersive media and multimodal storytelling to develop heritage-led creative interventions for socio-cultural revitalisation and sustainable development in different interdisciplinary research streams.

• XR technologies for languages and heritage revitalisation: explore the potential of using 3D immersive storytelling to preserve and revive endangered indigenous languages, knowledge and heritage.
• Immersive storytelling and archival research: investigate the integrated use of immersive technologies and online archiving for increasing access to and preservation of non-linear narratives.
• Creative technology and storytelling for building heritage-led resilience to conflict and climate change: evaluate the impact that the integrated use of 3D interactive visualisation and participatory research might have on increasing adaptation and resilience to climate change and conflicts, as well as promoting heritage innovation and sustainable development. See INHERIT Resilience Network.

Areas of research supervision

• Heritage and creativity technologies
• Immersive technologies (VR, AR, MR)
• Storytelling
• Heritage-led resilience and sustainability
• Heritage and climate change
• Heritage of conflict
• 3D documentation
• 3D visualisation
• Heritage monitoring and preservation

Current PhD projects

• Immersive storytelling, ‘re-constructing’ or ‘re-inhabiting’ places, with and for audiences of the future: The use of emergent technologies to embed fragile, intangible cultural heritage in local landscapes
• Investigating the resilience potential of heritage in response to climate change-related conflict in UK-based Syrian refugees
• The Lost City: A practice-based investigation into environmental storytelling reclaiming stories, landscapes and technologies to hack the heritage of Dunwich
• Exploring ‘forced displacement’ through co-creation of an extended reality experience. A practice-based research project contributing to storytelling and workflow in the fourth industrial revolution
• A case study of a co-created digital storytelling project on hidden teacher bias against higher education students from the MENA region

Qualifications

• PhD in World Culture/Digital Heritage, University of California Merced
• Post-graduate Specialization in Medieval Archaeology, University of Rome 'La Sapienza'
• BA + MA in Archaeology, University of Rome 'La Sapienza'

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member, Leadership team for the Sustainable Futures theme at ARU
• Member, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Research Working Group at ARU
• Advisory Board Member, The Virtual Experience Company
• Founding member, Climate Heritage Network
• Member, Immerse UK
• Member, Cambridge Wireless
• Member, the Association of Critical Heritage Studies
• Member, Board of Expert Reviewers for the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission (H2020)
• Member, Board of Reviewers for Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), UK
• Member, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
• Member, Board of Reviewers for the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
• Member, University of California Humanities Network

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• 2021-23: Lead Academic, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (Innovate UK) in collaboration with UK Antarctic Heritage Trust for the project Immersive Antarctica.
• 2021-22: Principal Investigator, British Academy/Leverhulme in collaboration with NowHere Media for the project Kusunda: How extended reality offers a more critical and emotional engagement with endangered indigenous languages and heritage.
• 2020-21: Principal Investigator, ARU GCRF QR fund in collaboration with the University of Petra in Jordan and the GSI for the project Investigating heritage-led resilience to conflict, scarcity and climate change with Syrian refugees in Jordan.
• 2019-2022: Principal Investigator, Collaboration with Essex Police and Chelmsford City Council for the development of a VR immersive experience to promote the creation of an emotional connection with young people to address key issues of knife violence. 
• 2017: Successful British Council Grant proposal with Virtual Experience Company, the University of Cambridge and the University of Essex for the project Digital documentation of Ksar es-Said.
• 2014-16: Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, Department of Archaeology, University of York. 7th Framework Programme for the Research of the European Union.
• 2013-14: University of California President’s Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities.
• 2010-12: Graduate Research Council (GRC) Summer Research Fellowship, University of California Merced.
• 2008-14: PhD Scholarship for international students, University of California Merced.

Selected recent publications

Creative works

Italia Terremotata (2021), Interactive VR application.

Italia Terremotata (2020), Documentary in English and Italian. BAFTSS Best Research Practice Innovation Award.

Base E (2020), Interactive VR application developed in collaboration with UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.

Ksar Said Palace in 3D (2020), Online Interactive Platform.

ADS 3D Viewer: a 3D Real-Time System for the Management and Analysis of Archaeological Data (2016), Online Interactive Platform.

Edited books and special issues

Galeazzi, F., and Richards-Rissetto, H. (Eds), 2018. Web-based infrastructures as a collaborative framework across archaeological fieldwork, lab work and analysis. Special Issue Journal of Field Archaeology 43 (S1).

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F., and Vassallo, V. (Eds), 2018. Authenticity and Cultural Heritage in the Age of 3D Digital Reproductions. McDonald Institute Conversations Series (University of Cambridge). DOI: 10.17863/CAM.27029

Peer-reviewed articles

Galeazzi, F., Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Toulson, R., Camporesi, C., and Patel, S. 2022. Earthquakes, communities and heritage: Telling stories of resilience through co-designed immersive media. Visual Studies, 37 (4). DOI: 10.1080/1472586X.2022.2102539

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Winterbottom, M., Galeazzi, F., and Gogan, M. 2019. Ksar Said: Building Tunisian young people’s critical engagement with their heritage. Sustainability, 11(5): 1373. DOI: 10.3390/su11051373

Galeazzi, F., and Richards-Rissetto, H., 2018. Web-based Archaeology and Collaborative Research. Journal of Field Archaeology, 43 (S1): S1-S8. DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2018.1512701

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F., and Vassallo, V., 2018. Why authenticity still matters today. In: Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Galeazzi, F., and Vassallo, V. (Eds), Authenticity and Cultural Heritage in the Age of 3D Digital Reproductions. McDonald Institute Conversations Series (University of Cambridge). 1-9. DOI: 10.17863/CAM.27029

Galeazzi, F., 2018. 3D Virtual Replicas and Simulations of the Past: “Real” or “Fake” Representations? Current Anthropology 59(3): 268-86. DOI: 10.1086/697489 
Galeazzi, F., and Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., 2017. Theorising 3D visualization systems in archaeology: Towards more effective design, evaluations and life cycles. Internet Archaeology, 44. DOI:10.11141/ia.44.5

Galeazzi, F., Callieri, M., Dellepiane, M., Charno, M., Scopigno, R., and Richards, J., 2016. Web-based Visualization for 3D Data in Archaeology: The ADS 3D Viewer. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 9: 1-11. DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.06.045

Galeazzi, F., 2016. Towards the definition of best 3D practices in archaeology: Assessing 3D documentation techniques for intra-site data recording. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 17: 159-69. DOI:10.1016/j.culher.2015.07.005

Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., Camporesi, C., Galeazzi, F., and Kallmann, M., 2015. 3D Printing and Immersive Visualization for Improved Perception of Ancient Artifacts. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. Special Issue on Living Virtual Heritage (MIT Press), 24(3): 243-64. DOI: 10.1162/PRES_a_00229

Galeazzi, F., Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco, P., and Matthews, J. L., 2015. Comparing 2D pictures with 3D replicas for the digital preservation and analysis of tangible heritage. Museum Management and Curatorship, 30(5): 462-83. DOI: 10.1080/09647775.2015.1042515

Recent presentations and conferences

Invited lectures, seminars and workshops

Development Programme Towards Climate Heritage in Libya, February-March 2022, Tripoli, Libya, British Council Cultural Protection Fund and Scene: Culture and Heritage. Invited Instructor: 1. ‘Climate Change Risk Assessment for Cultural Heritage in Libya’; 2. ‘3D Technologies for Climate Heritage in Libya’.

Building Partnerships for Humanitarian Heritage in South Asia. Partnerships, Opportunities and Regional Challenges (ENGAGE Network – Heritage Boarders of Engagement), 9-10 October 2020. ‘Cultural Institutions and Artistic Expression for the Preservation of Indigenous Languages and Heritage’.

Proto Fest 2020: Festival of Technology and Creativity, Tromsø, Norway, April 2020 (https://tvibit.net/proto-2019english). Workshop on ‘3D Visualisation and Digital Creativity’.

12th Annual Institute for European Archaeology (IEMA) Conference, Critical Archaeology in the Digital Age, University of Buffalo, 6-7 April 2019. ‘3D Thinking in Archaeology: From Critical Interaction to Effective Evaluation’.

UNESCO Network for Mediterranean Youth programme, 2018. Invited Instructor for a digital workshop on creative digital technologies and cultural heritage, aimed at equipping partner youth organizations with new IT skills, with a view to support their engagement for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Italy), 2018. Invited Teachers Instructor for ‘FUTURA: National Plan for the Digital School’ (three days of training and activities, Bologna, January 2018). 2018: The Year of Cultural Heritage. Archaeology in 3D: educational applications.

Publishing Archaeological Data Online Workshop, ANAMED (Research Center for Anatolian Studies), Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey, 1 December 2017. ‘Web-Based 3D Visualization and Archaeological Publishing: The ADS 3D Viewer’.

Royal Archaeological Institute Lectures, 2016. ‘Web-based visualisation of archaeological excavation data: combining traditional and innovative methods through collaborative platforms’.

University of Cambridge 2016 McDonald Seminar Series, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. ‘3D Web-based Visualisation and Archiving in Archaeology’.

University of York, 2014. Centre for Digital Heritage. ‘Envisioning Digital Heritage’.

Selected conference presentations

Galeazzi, F., Musmar, A., and Natalini, D. Digital stories of heritage-led resilience and sustainability with Syrian refugees in Jordan. Digital Sustainability: From Resilience to Transformation, Kingston School of Art, London, 4-7 September 2022.

Galeazzi, F., and Jensen, P. Online collaborative platforms and 3D visualisation for increased interoperability, integration and interpretation in archaeology. European Association of Archaeologists, 24th Annual Meeting, Barcelona (Spain), 5-8 September 2018.

Galeazzi, F. Evaluation of 3D documentation technologies in archaeology: new strategies and approaches in digital field methods. 3D Digital Technologies and Archaeology Workshop, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, 17-18 May 2016.

Galeazzi, F., and Jensen, P. Digital frameworks in archaeological fieldwork: practices for archiving, management and visualisation of structure-from-motion data. CAA-UK (43rd Computer Application and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology), Critical Geomatics or just droning on?, Leicester, UK, 5-6 March 2016.

Galeazzi, F., Callieri, M., Dellepiane, M., Charno, M., Scopigno, R., and Richards, J. From research archives to web-based visualization: the ADS 3D viewer. Digital Heritage Conference: 3D in Knowledge Production, Aarhus, Denmark, 20-22 May 2015.

Galeazzi, F. ADS 3D Viewer: an example of open 3D real-time visualization system in archaeology. SAA (Society for American Archaeologists) 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 15-19 April 2015.

Galeazzi, F. Finding a place for the new: integrating 3D recording techniques with traditional practices of archaeological documentation. CAA (43rd Computer Application and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology), Keep the Revolution Going, Siena, Italy, 30 March-3April 2015.

Media experience

BBC World News (live 17 June 2022), interview about the ‘Reviving Kusunda’ project: https://fb.watch/e6r6TdG79N/.