In the Artiste Project we brought together museum collections using RDF mapping of Metadata – that means is that you could search a collection in its own language but the search would be passed to other collections in their own format. This could include image-based information such as “an image like this in terms of colour layout”. In SCULPTEUR we will extend the metadata to the entire semantic Web and add searching based on 3D features in objects. For example “find me an object of similar shape from this period”.
Digital libraries raise the quality, availability and diversity of information. However, museums in particular require more sophisticated 3D and other multimedia objects, enhanced storage and retrieval and better exploitation of the wealth of information on the Web. The objectives are to: develop a multimedia digital library system, with specific support for 3D objects; develop a semantic layer and tools to populate it with metadata based on image and object content, existing metadata, and information from the Web; develop and influence open distributed multimedia interoperability protocols; build semantic knowledge bases using the above techniques, and exploit them through e-learning products. Results will be applicable to many sectors: 3D object algorithms; an ontology that links multimedia and metadata; metadata generation tools; interoperable protocols; an integrated system; and semantic knowledge bases exploited by e-learning products.