Welcome to Extended Matrix documentation!
Extended Matrix is a formal language with which to keep track of virtual reconstruction processes. It is intended to be used by archaeologists and heritage specialists to document in a robust way their scientific activities. The EM allows to record the sources used and the processes of analysis and synthesis that have led from scientific evidence to virtual reconstruction. It organises 3D archaeological record so that the 3D modelling steps are smoother, transparent and scientifically complete. It has been developed by E. Demetrescu at CNR-ISPC (Rome, former CNR-ITABC). EM is at its 1.4 version (a 1.5 version is currently under development).
In a wider perspective and due to its abstract approach, the Extended Matrix can be used as a human readable metaphor to ingest and present liquid semantic data. In other words, the nodes that compone the paradata section can be used to track and annotate in a simple but effective way several data provenance path exceeding the traditional reconstruction process it was firstly applied to.
First time here?
If this is your very first contact with the Extended Matrix project, the recommended landing page is extendedmatrix.org — it explains what EM is, who it is for, and which of the manuals you should open next. This site you are reading now is the language reference: the place where the formal notation is defined and discussed.
EM, EM Tools, 3DSC, EMviq: who is who
A new user often meets several names at once. The distinction matters because each one solves a different problem:
Name |
What it is |
Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
Extended Matrix (EM) |
The formal language used to document stratigraphy and
reconstruction processes. Drawn in yEd or produced from
|
You are here. |
EM Tools |
The Blender add-on that connects an EM graph to 3D content. |
|
3DSC |
A complementary Blender environment for high-quality 3D survey processing that can feed EM Tools. |
|
EMviq |
The web visualisation component of the 1.4 framework — the browser-side viewer for EM-aware 3D scenes. |
If you are unsure which one you need: stay here if you have evidence to organise and a notation to learn; switch to the EM Tools manual if you have 3D content to annotate in Blender; reach for 3DSC if you have raw survey data to clean and align; open EMviq when your reconstruction is ready to be shared on the web.
Tip
New to EM? Start with Usage for installation and the broad workflow, then walk through Nodes of the Extended Matrix (short intro):, Stratigraphic Nodes of the EM and Properties of the EM — these three pages cover ~80% of the day-to-day vocabulary in 1.4.
Check out the Usage section for further information, including how to Installation the project. For the description of the nodes, see Nodes of the Extended Matrix (short intro): For the properties, see properties
Note
This documentation is related to the EM 1.4 release line. For the in-development 1.5 line — including TSU, Landscape mode and the standalone s3dgraphy library — switch to the 1.5 development docs.