Summer course on Digital Heritage for high school students

Milan – Leonardo Campus | 2026 June 15-19

Course Description

Welcome to Digital Heritage Lab! This course offers a hands-on and engaging experience that bridges the gap between our rich cultural heritage and the frontiers of digital innovation.

Participants will step into the shoes of “curators of the future,” learning cutting-edge methodologies for measuring, documenting, and enhancing Cultural Heritage. 

The educational objectives aim to:

• Understand the transformative impact of digital technologies in the Cultural Heritage field.
• Acquire theoretical knowledge about the most modern survey techniques.
• Acquire practical ability to use specific instruments and software tools.
• Develop a concrete digital surveying project, from measuring an object to creating its digital copy.

Digital Heritage LAB represents a unique opportunity for young people to immerse themselves, through a practical approach, in the world of digitization of Cultural Heritage eventually applicable to other architectural infrastructural and industrial fields. A highly actual topic, ideal for those who want to combine a passion for Cultural Heritage with an interest in technology and applied sciences.

Course topics

Digital Heritage Lab offers a week-long series of themed modules that blend morning lectures with hands-on activities in the afternoon. Each morning, participants learn about classic methods for documenting cultural heritage—such as photography—and receive an introduction to modern technologies like 3D scanners (including Terrestrial Laser Scanners and Mobile Mapping systems) and photogrammetric techniques. Afternoons are dedicated to practical use of this equipment. Students, working in small groups, carry out digitalization exercises with the aim of digitally capturing an entire building.

Pills of TSL: Terrestrial Laser Scanners are used to create highly detailed 3D digital point clouds of architectural spaces, achieving millimeter-level accuracy.

Pills of Mobile Mapping: Mobile mapping is a cutting-edge technique for digitizing large architectural areas. Although not widely adopted yet, it enables centimeter-level measurements while moving through spaces.

Photography (technical hints): photography forms the foundation of documentation and is the basis for photogrammetry—a method daily used today but often misunderstood and unknown technically.

Photogrammetry: this technique allows for the creation of digital 3D models from images, making it the most flexible and effective digitalization method available.

AA visit to Milan Cathedral is planned to experience firsthand a small digitalization project and to understand the potential of modern equipment applied to a real-world case. On the afternoon of the last day, the groups will present the results of the activities done.

Technical requirements

Participants are required to bring a laptop and a professional photo camera to take part in the course. Those without access to a laptop may collaborate with group colleagues. If a participant does not own a camera, they may use one of the provided cameras or, if necessary, their personal phone (this is not the recommended option). Additionally, bringing a mouse is advised to facilitate interaction with the software. The choice of operating system is unimportant. All necessary software will be provided and a guided installation of software packages will be conducted by the instructor during the afternoon exercises.