Mahdia projet de mémoire numérique المهدية عبر العصور مشروع الذاكرة الرقمية — Transcript

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1. 0:08Imagine with me a city that was once
2. 0:11the capital of a great empire, the
3. 0:13beating heart of the Fatimid state on
4. 0:15the Mediterranean coast. This is Mahdia
5. 0:19, Tunisia, a true historical jewel. But
6. 0:22unfortunately, most of its great
7. 0:24landmarks have been lost over time. The
8. 0:26question is, is it possible to travel
9. 0:28through time and go back? To discover
10. 0:30it once again. We will explain this. We
11. 0:32will embark on this journey together.
12. 0:36And here lies the greatest challenge.
13. 0:39How can we revive a nearly lost city? A
14. 0:42city of which only ruins remain.
15. 0:44Scattered. And some stories in the
16. 0:46depths of books. Our journey today is
17. 0:49to know how these scattered pieces
18. 0:51turned into a tangible digital reality.
19. 0:53Thanks to a very ambitious project.
20. 1:05Every story. Is great. Every major
21. 1:08project must begin with a moment of
22. 1:09inspiration. With a simple spark. For
23. 1:12Tunisian engineer Hassan Ali, this
24. 1:14spark wasn't a complex idea or a
25. 1:16calculated plan. No, it was just a
26. 1:18simple moment of contemplation in front
27. 1:20of a painting, the moment that awakened
28. 1:21his passion for the history of his city
29. 1:23that was almost forgotten. From this
30. 1:27simple question, a huge project was
31. 1:30launched—just an idea ignited by a
32. 1:32single painting—and a long, arduous
33. 1:34journey of research and work began. The
34. 1:37goal wasn't just to draw history on
35. 1:39paper; the goal was to rebuild it stone
36. 1:42by stone in a virtual world that is
37. 1:44open and accessible to everyone. Of
38. 1:51course, before laying any virtual stone
39. 1:53, a phase of historical research and
40. 1:55investigation had to begin. The task
41. 1:57was like putting together a giant,
42. 1:59scattered puzzle. Every piece of
43. 2:01information, every map, every
44. 2:03manuscript was a very precious piece in
45. 2:05the path of sketching the features of
46. 2:07the lost city. And the amazing thing
47. 2:09here is the diversity of sources the
48. 2:11project relied on. The subject was
49. 2:13never easy; he had to collect the
50. 2:15puzzle pieces from completely different
51. 2:17places, from the precise engineering
52. 2:19plans of archaeologist Alexandre
53. 2:21Lézine to the research of historian
54. 2:23Adnen Louhichi. And from centuries-old
55. 2:25maps to the testimonies of local
56. 2:27historians. The real challenge was, how
57. 2:29to reconcile all these sources? And
58. 2:31create from them a single, integrated,
59. 2:34and reliable image? Well, after all
60. 2:36these historical treasures were
61. 2:38gathered. The magical moment arrived.
62. 2:41The moment of turning paper and words
63. 2:43into a virtual reality. We can see it
64. 2:45and touch it. Here exactly, the
65. 2:47historian's accuracy and brilliance
66. 2:49meet with the digital engineer's skill
67. 2:51and capability. The work was never
68. 2:53random. On the contrary, it followed a
69. 2:55very strict and precise methodology. To
70. 2:58ensure the project's success, the
71. 2:59process was carried out in four steps.
72. 3:01Clear: first, gathering all possible
73. 3:03sources; second, analyzing
74. 3:05archaeological plans and understanding
75. 3:07them architecturally; third, the
76. 3:09digital modeling stage using
77. 3:11specialized programs like SketchUp; and
78. 3:13finally, the most important step, the
79. 3:15precise scientific and historical
80. 3:17review of every detail to ensure it
81. 3:19matches the truth as much as possible.
82. 3:22This is the fruit of all this massive
83. 3:24effort: what was just a description in
84. 3:26books and an imagination in our minds
85. 3:28has today become a digital reality. We
86. 3:31can wander through it. Look at these
87. 3:33iconic landmarks that have returned to
88. 3:35life. The impregnable walls. The
89. 3:37circular military port, whose design
90. 3:39was unique. Of its kind. And the
91. 3:41majestic Fatimid palaces, all before us
92. 3:43today with their precise architectural
93. 3:45details. But what is the value of all
94. 3:52this great work if it remains locked on
95. 3:54a computer? The basic philosophy of the
96. 3:57project was sharing; the idea was to
97. 3:59turn this digital memory into an open
98. 4:01knowledge resource for the whole world,
99. 4:03available to researchers, students, and
100. 4:06everyone who has a passion for the
101. 4:08history of this ancient city and to...
102. 4:10To achieve this goal, many digital
103. 4:12bridges were built for the project. It
104. 4:15used diverse platforms to bring its
105. 4:17work to the public. From a Facebook
106. 4:19page for daily interaction with people.
107. 4:21And a Sketchfab site that lets anyone
108. 4:23explore 3D models themselves. Reaching
109. 4:26a YouTube channel that offers engaging
110. 4:28documentaries. And even a specialized
111. 4:30website offering immersive experiences.
112. 4:32Virtually complete, as if you were
113. 4:34actually there. But the story didn't
114. 4:48end there at all, after the great
115. 4:50success in reconstructing lost history
116. 4:52based on interpretation and research.
117. 4:55The project today is heading towards a
118. 4:56more ambitious and precise future.
119. 4:58Ultra-precise digital preservation of
120. 5:00the antiquities that still exist today.
121. 5:02Today, this 3D scanning technology
122. 5:04represents a real leap into the future.
123. 5:07Instead of relying on human
124. 5:08interpretation of blueprints, scanning
125. 5:11creates a digital twin or an exact
126. 5:13replica of existing monuments, meaning
127. 5:15every stone, every inscription, and
128. 5:18every tiny detail is preserved and
129. 5:20immortalized for future generations, as
130. 5:22if you are creating a backup copy of
131. 5:24history itself. Here, the fundamental
132. 5:30difference between the two stages
133. 5:32becomes clear. In the first stage, the
134. 5:34focus was on reconstructing the lost
135. 5:36past based on historical interpretation
136. 5:39and research, while the new stage is
137. 5:41precise documentation of the present to
138. 5:43create a backup for the future. This is
139. 5:45a very important transition from the
140. 5:47task of reviving history to the task of
141. 5:50proactively protecting it. The
142. 5:55possibilities opened up by this new
143. 5:57technology are, frankly, almost
144. 5:59limitless. Imagine a complete digital
145. 6:01archive of the city that anyone in the
146. 6:03world can access, or stunning
147. 6:04interactive displays inside the Mahdia
148. 6:06Museum, or even live research projects
149. 6:08with university students and enhancing
150. 6:09cultural tourism in innovative ways
151. 6:11that were never possible before. The
152. 6:13future is very bright. In the end, the
153. 6:18story of the Mahdia project is more
154. 6:20than just a story of a city; it is an
155. 6:22inspiring testament to the power of
156. 6:24technology. When we use it to serve our
157. 6:26memory and our history. And this leaves
158. 6:28us with an important question, since
159. 6:30these. Powerful tools are now in our
160. 6:32hands. I wonder how many other
161. 6:34historical treasures around the world
162. 6:36can we save from oblivion and protect
163. 6:38forever? A