Towards an inclusive curation of WWI heritage: integrating historical aerial photographs, digital museum applications and landscape markers in “Flanders Fields” (Belgium)

Purpose: Over a century of state-sponsored construction of monuments, historic mythmaking and nationalist framings of WWI has ensured that it has become notoriously difficult to present the heritage of the Great War in an inclusive and non-selective way. In this paper the authors present a strategy and technology-driven solutions to overcome the selective heritage curation of modern conflict. Design/methodology/approach: Building on a suite of tools, applications and cultural heritage management plans developed by the In Flanders Fields Museum (IFFM), this paper explores the challenges of preserving and curating conflict heritage. The authors investigate the philosophy, cultural heritage management strategies and exhibitions used to curate the heritage of the Ypres Salient (Belgium). Findings: The paper argues that historical aerial photographs integrated in multimedia exhibits present themselves as a fascinating source bringing the landscape within the walls of the museum. Mobile augmented reality (AR) applications developed by the museum go one step beyond and bring museum techniques to the landscape. Research limitations/implications: This paper presents a strategy to present, manage and curate the entirety of conflict heritage from the modern period. Faced with growing politicisation and memorialisation of modern conflict, it is extremely important that inclusive heritage management and curation is insured. The reflections on different curatorial techniques used by the IFFM can contribute globally towards a better heritage engagement. Practical implications: An innovative and meaningful framework enables a more historically nuanced visitor experience to key heritage sites throughout the Ypres Salient. Social implications: Ensuring a non-selective heritage experience is especially pressing today. Over the past century canonised and national narratives have prescribed our understanding of the First World War across Europe and beyond. Originality/value: Adopting a critical stance towards the proliferation in AR apps and applying theories from anthropology and phenomenology has been developed combining AR with arboreal landscape relics. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

3D Information Technologies in Cultural Heritage Preservation and Popularisation

This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences presents recent advances and developments in the use of digital 3D technologies to protect and preserve cultural heritage. While most of the articles focus on aspects of 3D scanning, modeling, and presenting in VR of cultural heritage objects from buildings to small artifacts and clothing, part of the issue is devoted to 3D sound utilization in the cultural heritage field

Collaborative and Multi-Modal Mixed Reality for Enhancing Cultural Learning in Virtual Heritage

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Usability, user experience and mental workload in a mobile Augmented Reality application for digital storytelling in cultural heritage

Augmented Reality (AR) has become an increasingly used technology to support and enhance the enjoyment of cultural heritage. Particularly relevant is its importance for digital storytelling: by framing a portion of a fresco or painting with a smartphone, an AR mobile application can provide contextually relevant information, also in the form of multimedia content, that can help the user to understand the story and meaning behind the images. In this type of application, human factors are of fundamental importance for the effectiveness of the narrative: a mobile AR application must avoid distracting the user’s attention from the content in order to encourage a good level of concentration and immersion. The case study presented in this paper deals with a mobile AR application developed to guide visitors in the interpretation of the frescoes inside the Basilica of Saint Catherina of Alexandria in Galatina. The aim of the study is the analysis of the relations among usability, user experience and mental workload factors in AR-based digital storytelling

Overview of the treatment of historical industrial heritage in engineering graphics

This article presents a comprehensive review of the stages of research when addressing the issue of historical industrial heritage from the point view of engineering graphics, looking at its influence on all stages of the value chain. It provides a contextual introduction, explaining the research, the aim pursued and the priority objectives of this type of work. It also presents the methodology and the materials used, specifying important details needed to obtain a realistic result, such as fieldwork, 3D virtual modeling, virtual reconstruction, and more usual techniques used such as augmented reality and virtual reality. Finally, the dissemination of the results and the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual reconstructions are presented

Interactive Experience Design: Integrated and Tangible Storytelling with Maritime Museum Artefacts

Museums play the role of intermediary between cultural heritage and visitors, and are often described as places and environments for education and enjoyment. The European Union also encourages innovative uses of museums to support education through the cultural heritage resources. However, the importance of visitors’ active role in museums as places for education and entertainment, on the one hand, and the growing and indispensable presence of technology in the cultural heritage domain, on the other hand, provided the initial ideas to develop the research. This thesis, presents the study and design for an interactive storytelling installation for a maritime museum. The installation is designed to integrate different museum artefacts into the storytelling system to enrich the visitors experience through tangible storytelling. The project was conducted in collaboration with another PhD student, Luca Ciotoli. His contribution was mainly focused on the narrative and storytelling features of the research, while my contribution was focused on the interaction- and technology-related features, including the design and implementation of the prototype. The research is deployed using a four-phase iterative approach. The first phase of the research, Study, deals with literature review and different studies to identify the requirements. The second phase, Design, determines the broad outlines of the project i.e., an interactive storytelling installation. The design phase includes interaction and museum experience design. We investigated different design approaches, e.g., interaction and museum experience design, to develop a conceptual design. The third phase, prototype, allows us to determine how to fulfill the tasks and meet the requirements that are established for the research. Prototyping involves content creation, storyboarding, integrating augmented artefacts into the storytelling system. Th final phase, test, refers to the evaluations that are conducted during the aforementioned phases e.g., formative and the final usability testing with users. The outcome of the research confirms previous results in the literature about how digital narratives can be enriched with the tangible dimension, moreover it shows how this dimension can enable to communicate stories and knowledge of the past that are complex, such as the art of navigating in the past, by integrating tangible objects that play different roles in the storytelling process

Routeing in military tourism: gamification as an implementation proposal

This dissertation approaches three main concepts, routeing applied to tourism, Military Tourism as a segment of Cultural Tourism and Gamification as a tool for tourist fruition, with the aim at establishing a link between them. Following a literature review from various authors in each of these areas, and after the establishment of a firm conceptual base, this project investigates the possible links between them. In this specific case the application of the benefits of gamification to promote the development of Military Tourism products and their organisation in military themed tourism routes. In conclusion this dissertation presents a guiding model explaining the use of different forms of game based technology to develop different Military Tourism products and how this tool can aid in the organisation in a Military Tourism Route

Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts. EVA 2013 Florence

Important Information Technology topics are presented: multimedia systems, data-bases, protection of data, access to the content. Particular reference is reserved to digital images (2D, 3D) regarding Cultural Institutions (Museums, Libraries, Palace – Monuments, Archaeological Sites). The main parts of the Conference Proceedings regard: Strategic Issues, EC Projects and Related Networks & Initiatives, International Forum on “Culture & Technology”, 2D – 3D Technologies & Applications, Virtual Galleries – Museums and Related Initiatives, Access to the Culture Information. Three Workshops are related to: International Cooperation, Innovation and Enterprise, Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism