Project description
Non-ionising imaging helps view ancient texts sight unseen
Ancient handwritten books (codices) too fragile to unwrap, open or touch are not accessible to experts or to the public. Current methods of reading without opening ancient books involve techniques that expose fragile manuscripts to ionising radiation. These methods can potentially damage ancient inks and support. Furthermore, detected paper-air gaps result in retrieved images of a single page of closed books being corrupted by severe system-induced blurring and noise effects. The EU-funded RUTE project will uncover ancient content and reveal unseen texts without opening the books. The project will exploit a non-ionising technique, terahertz (THz) time-domain imaging, that penetrates highly absorbent materials and detect paper-air gaps.
Objective
Safely stored in archives’ storages across the world, ancient handwritten books (codices) that are too fragile to be opened, page-turned, or unfolded, are not open to consultation nor accessible, their content hidden from both experts and public. The main goal of the proposed project is to uncover their content and Reveal Unseen Text (RUTE) by reading through them without opening them. Current approaches for facilitating this task are mostly based on techniques that expose fragile manuscripts to ionizing radiation (e.g. X-ray computed tomography) potentially causing damage to ancient inks or support. To prevent damage of valuable manuscripts or written text, RUTE will exploit a non-ionizing technique, terahertz (THz) time-domain imaging, that can penetrate highly absorbing materials (e.g. paper, papyrus, or parchment) and detect paper-air gaps in the sample. Detected paper-air gaps lead to retrieving images that represent a single page of closed books often corrupted by severe system-induced blurring and noise effects. Until now, only limited attempts have been made to reduce these degradation effects (i.e. blur and noise) with none of them tailored to THz images that contain text. To fill this gap, RUTE will facilitate a unique approach to data creation and collection and introduce a highly interdisciplinary methodological process for reading through closed books. The proposed methodology will facilitate detection of paper-air gaps and pages separation, text enhancement, and document images restoration. RUTE will have a tremendous impact on analysis, preservation, and digitisation of valuable European and World cultural heritage assets by enabling the possibility to access knowledge that would otherwise remain undiscovered.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
16163 Genova
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.