How does 3D Influence Scientific Research and Publications in Digital Humanities?

3D technologies have offered researchers in the Humanities (archaeologists, anthropologists, architects, art historians...) new and effective tools to process, analyse and disseminate their scientific data. As a true research tool, 3D enables one to examine and visualize digital data and also facilitates dialogue and exchange between researchers by providing digital models and visual support to test different hypotheses and confront different documentary resources to find solutions to historical questions that traditional methods of investigation cannot solve. It also raises new questions. 3D makes it possible to present information in a more coherent form and to support a demonstration by making it more comprehensible for the observer. Thus, the 3D solution presented in the publication will clarify the scientific purpose of a text or a speech that might be too abstract without this visual transcription. Thanks to their flexibility, 3D models can be used to follow the historical evolution of an object from cultural heritage or more specifically from an archaeological site: such a digital replica can be updated at will and viewed from different angles. With the online publication of these 3D models, researchers have rapid access to information through an organized database synthesizing all the scientific documentation. Moreover, by this digital medium, researchers can continue their investigation without any need to remain on the site.Furthermore, 3D models can also be used as support for an information system by associating a coherent spatial coordinate system in order to offer researchers all the data associated with a humanities object of study. However exploitation of the large amount of 3D data remains difficult for humanities scholars who are not used to manipulating such data.In order to help the Digital Community, resultats of the ReSeed project, currently funded by the French National Agency for Research and associated with an axis of the 3D-SSH consortium will be detailed by the author. It aims at the development of a new technology: a tool and an interoperable format in order to digitize both historical semantic data and 3D physical objects. ReSeed will implement an ethical code assigned to guarantee the authenticity and uniqueness of the future semantically augmented numerical objects.Rétro-conception SémantiquE d'objEts patrimoniaux Digitau