ICT the history microscopy : Visualization of the Invisible at the site of Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida)

L’aplicació i l’ús de les noves tecnologies al procés de musealització de jaciments arqueològics és un recurs cada cop més utilitzat dins de la programació dels projectes museogràfics. En aquest article, s’hi realitza un repàs breu al que engloba i comporta el terme noves tecnologies i la diversitat de recursos que poden ajudar a generar. Alhora, s’hi presenta l’aplicació informàtica realitzada per al jaciment del paleolític mitjà de la Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida). Les característiques que presenta el jaciment han contribuït a implementar aquests nous recursos, la qual cosa es materialitza en l’ús de pantalles tàctils digitals per realitzar-ne la visita.La aplicación y el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en el proceso de musealización de yacimientos arqueológicos es un recurso cada vez más utilizado dentro de la programación de los proyectos museográficos. En este artículo, se realiza un breve repaso a lo que engloba y comporta el término nuevas tecnologías y a la diversidad de recursos que pueden ser generados a través de las mismas. Al mismo tiempo, se presenta la aplicación informática realizada para el yacimiento del paleolítico medio de la Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida). Las características que presenta el yacimiento han contribuido a la implementación de estos nuevos recursos, que se ha materializado en el uso de pantallas táctiles digitales para realizar la visita al mismo.The use and implementation of innovative technologies in the process of archaeological sites musealization is a resource increasingly used within the planning of museographical projects. This paper presents a brief review about what forms and entails the term innovative technologies and the diversity of resources which can be generated through them. At the same time, here we present the application developed for Roca dels Bous Middle Palaeolithic site (Camarasa, Lleida). The site characteristics have contributed to the implementation of these new resources, being materialized in the use of digital touch screen devices for visiting the site

TIC el microscopio de la historia. La visualización de lo invisible en el yacimiento de la Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida)

La aplicación y el uso de las nuevas tecnologías en el proceso de musealización de yacimientos arqueológicos es un recurso cada vez más utilizado dentro de la programación de los proyectos museográficos. En este artículo, se realiza un breve repaso a lo que engloba y comporta el término nuevas tecnologías y a la diversidad de recursos que pueden ser generados a través de las mismas. Al mismo tiempo, se presenta la aplicación informática realizada para el yacimiento del paleolítico medio de la Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida). Las características que presenta el yacimiento han contribuido a la implementación de estos nuevos recursos, que se ha materializado en el uso de pantallas táctiles digitales para realizar la visita al mismo.L'aplicació i l'ús de les noves tecnologies al procés de musealització de jaciments arqueològics és un recurs cada cop més utilitzat dins de la programació dels projectes museogràfics. En aquest article, s'hi realitza un repàs breu al que engloba i comporta el terme noves tecnologies i la diversitat de recursos que poden ajudar a generar. Alhora, s'hi presenta l'aplicació informàtica realitzada per al jaciment del paleolític mitjà de la Roca dels Bous (Camarasa, Lleida). Les característiques que presenta el jaciment han contribuït a implementar aquests nous recursos, la qual cosa es materialitza en l'ús de pantalles tàctils digitals per realitzar-ne la visita.The use and implementation of innovative technologies in the process of archaeological sites musealization is a resource increasingly used within the planning of museographical projects. This paper presents a brief review about what forms and entails the term innovative technologies and the diversity of resources which can be generated through them. At the same time, here we present the application developed for Roca dels Bous Middle Palaeolithic site (Camarasa, Lleida). The site characteristics have contributed to the implementation of these new resources, being materialized in the use of digital touch screen devices for visiting the site

Realidad aumentada y Patrimonio Cultural: nuevas perspectivas para el conocimiento y la difusión del objeto cultural

Recent advances in investigations about new technologies applied to the heritage field have been highly successful, achieving better results for the knowledge and dissemination of cultural contents. Augmented Reality has been integrated like a useful and important tool for Cultural Heritage knowledge by its capacity to combine the real and the virtual world, creating augmented and realistic environments for the user.El avance en las investigaciones sobre nuevas tecnologías aplicadas al campo patrimonial ha tenido una gran acogida permitiendo obtener mejores resultados en lo que se refiere al conocimiento y difusión de los contenidos culturales. La Realidad Aumentada se ha incorporado recientemente y con gran aceptación como una herramienta capaz de ofrecer resultados satisfactorios en el Patrimonio Cultural por su carácter altamente didáctico y por su capacidad de combinar el mundo real con el mundo virtual creando entornos aumentados de gran realismo para el usuario. 

Augmented reality and Cultural Heritage: new perspectives for the knowledge and dissemination of the cultural object

El avance en las investigaciones sobre nuevas tecnologías aplicadas al campo patrimonial ha tenido una gran acogida permitiendo obtener mejores resultados en lo que se refiere al conocimiento y difusión de los contenidos culturales. La Realidad Aumentada se ha incorporado recientemente y con gran aceptación como una herramienta capaz de ofrecer resultados satisfactorios en el Patrimonio Cultural por su carácter altamente didáctico y por su capacidad de combinar el mundo real con el mundo virtual creando entornos aumentados de gran realismo para el usuario.Recent advances in investigations about new technologies applied to the heritage field have been highly successful, achieving better results for the knowledge and dissemination of cultural contents. Augmented Reality has been integrated like a useful and important tool for Cultural Heritage knowledge by its capacity to combine the real and the virtual world, creating augmented and realistic environments for the user.Departamento de Historia del Arte. Universidad de Granada

Ambient Information Visualisation and Visitors' Technology Acceptance of Mixed Reality in Museums

The visualisation of historical information and storytelling in museums is a crucial process for transferring knowledge by directly and simplistically engaging the museum audience. Until recently, technological limitations meant museums were limited to 2D and 3D screen-based information displays. However, advancements in Mixed reality (MR) devices permit the propagation of a virtual overlay that amalgamates both real-world and virtual environments into a single spectrum. These holographical devices project a 3D space around the user which can be augmented with virtual artefacts, thus potentially changing the traditional museum visitor experience. Few research studies focus on utilising this virtual space to generate objects that do not visually inhibit or distract the operator. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce the Ambient Information Visualisation Concept (AIVC) as a new form of storytelling, which can enhance the communication and interactivity between museum visitors and exhibits by measuring and sustaining an optimum spatial environment around the user. Furthermore, this paper investigates the perceptual influences of AIVC on the users’ level of engagement in the museum. This research paper utilises the Microsoft HoloLens, which is one of the most cutting-edge imagining technologies available to date, in order to deploy the AIVC in a historical storytelling scene ‘The Battle’ in the Egyptian department at The Manchester Museum. This research further seeks to measure the user acceptance of the MR prototype by adopting the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The operational approaches investigated in this study include; personal innovativeness (PI), enjoyment (ENJ), usefulness (USF), ease of use (EOU) and willingness of future use (WFU). The population sampling methodology utilised 47 participants from the museum’s daily visitors. Results of this research indicate that the willingness of future usage construct is the primary outcome of this study, followed by the usefulness factor. Further findings conclude that the majority of users found this technology highly engaging and easy to use. The combination of the proposed system and AIVC in museum storytelling has extensive applications in museums, galleries and cultural heritage places to enhance the visitor experience. Keywords: Mixed Reality; Storytelling; Visitor Acceptance; Museum; HMDs; Ambient information visualisation; Microsoft HoloLen

A Framework for Constructing and Evaluating the Role of MR as a Holographic Virtual Guide in Museums

Mixed reality (MR) is a cutting-edge technology at the forefront of many new applications in the tourism and cultural heritage sector. This study aims to reshape the museum experience by creating a highly engaging and immersive museum experience for visitors combing real-time visual, audio information and computer-generated images with museum artefacts and customer displays. This research introduces a theoretical framework that assesses the potential of MR guidance system in usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, interactivity, touring and future applications. The evaluation introduces the MuseumEye MR application in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo using mixed method surveys and a sample of 171 participants. The results of the questionnaire highlighted the importance of the mediating the role of the tour guide in enhancing the relationship between perceived usefulness, ease of use, multimedia, UI design, interactivity and the intention of use. Furthermore, the results of this study revealed the potential future use of MR in museums and ensured sustainability and engagement past the traditional visitor museum experience, which heightens the economic state of museums and cultural heritage sectors

3D photogrammetric data modeling and optimization for multipurpose analysis and representation of Cultural Heritage assets

This research deals with the issues concerning the processing, managing, representation for further dissemination of the big amount of 3D data today achievable and storable with the modern geomatic techniques of 3D metric survey. In particular, this thesis is focused on the optimization process applied to 3D photogrammetric data of Cultural Heritage assets. Modern Geomatic techniques enable the acquisition and storage of a big amount of data, with high metric and radiometric accuracy and precision, also in the very close range field, and to process very detailed 3D textured models. Nowadays, the photogrammetric pipeline has well-established potentialities and it is considered one of the principal technique to produce, at low cost, detailed 3D textured models. The potentialities offered by high resolution and textured 3D models is today well-known and such representations are a powerful tool for many multidisciplinary purposes, at different scales and resolutions, from documentation, conservation and restoration to visualization and education. For example, their sub-millimetric precision makes them suitable for scientific studies applied to the geometry and materials (i.e. for structural and static tests, for planning restoration activities or for historical sources); their high fidelity to the real object and their navigability makes them optimal for web-based visualization and dissemination applications. Thanks to the improvement made in new visualization standard, they can be easily used as visualization interface linking different kinds of information in a highly intuitive way. Furthermore, many museums look today for more interactive exhibitions that may increase the visitors’ emotions and many recent applications make use of 3D contents (i.e. in virtual or augmented reality applications and through virtual museums). What all of these applications have to deal with concerns the issue deriving from the difficult of managing the big amount of data that have to be represented and navigated. Indeed, reality based models have very heavy file sizes (also tens of GB) that makes them difficult to be handled by common and portable devices, published on the internet or managed in real time applications. Even though recent advances produce more and more sophisticated and capable hardware and internet standards, empowering the ability to easily handle, visualize and share such contents, other researches aim at define a common pipeline for the generation and optimization of 3D models with a reduced number of polygons, however able to satisfy detailed radiometric and geometric requests. iii This thesis is inserted in this scenario and focuses on the 3D modeling process of photogrammetric data aimed at their easy sharing and visualization. In particular, this research tested a 3D models optimization, a process which aims at the generation of Low Polygons models, with very low byte file size, processed starting from the data of High Poly ones, that nevertheless offer a level of detail comparable to the original models. To do this, several tools borrowed from the game industry and game engine have been used. For this test, three case studies have been chosen, a modern sculpture of a contemporary Italian artist, a roman marble statue, preserved in the Civic Archaeological Museum of Torino, and the frieze of the Augustus arch preserved in the city of Susa (Piedmont- Italy). All the test cases have been surveyed by means of a close range photogrammetric acquisition and three high detailed 3D models have been generated by means of a Structure from Motion and image matching pipeline. On the final High Poly models generated, different optimization and decimation tools have been tested with the final aim to evaluate the quality of the information that can be extracted by the final optimized models, in comparison to those of the original High Polygon one. This study showed how tools borrowed from the Computer Graphic offer great potentialities also in the Cultural Heritage field. This application, in fact, may meet the needs of multipurpose and multiscale studies, using different levels of optimization, and this procedure could be applied to different kind of objects, with a variety of different sizes and shapes, also on multiscale and multisensor data, such as buildings, architectural complexes, data from UAV surveys and so on

Sustainable Business Models in Tourism

We invite you to read the Special Issue on business models in tourism, in the context of considering the principles of sustainable development. It is a collection of 14 articles published in a Special Issue of Sustainability MDPI in 2019–2021. The dynamic changes taking place in the world economy, social life, and the natural environment force entrepreneurs to change their business models. This also happens in the tourism business. The SARS-COV2 virus pandemic has increased the need for change. It is necessary to offer managers modern management tools that cover the broadest possible scope of integration of the elements of the conducted business activities, at the same time adjusted to the specificity of the market and needs of the natural environment in which the enterprises managed by them operate. This book, formulated in the light of the presented needs, aims to use the concept of business models and sustainability business models in the context of a tourism enterprise adapted to the existing conditions of tourist and spa activities

Virtual Guidance using Mixed Reality in Historical Places and Museums

Mixed Reality (MR) is one of the most disruptive technologies that shows potential in many application domains, particularly in the tourism and cultural heritage sector. MR using the latest headsets with the highest capabilities introduces a new visual platform that can change people’s visual experience. This thesis introduces a HoloLens-based mixed reality guidance system for museums and historical places. This new guidance form considers the inclusiveness of the necessary and optimised functionalities, visual and audio guiding abilities, essential roles of a guide, and the related social interactions in the real-time. A mixed reality guide, dubbed ‘MuseumEye’ was designed and developed for the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, to overcome challenges currently facing the museum, e.g. lack of guiding methods, limited information signposted on the exhibits, lack of visitor engagement resulting in less time spent in the museum compared to other museums with similar capacity and significance. These problems motivated the researcher to conduct an exploratory study to investigate the museum environment and guiding methods by interviewing 10 participants and observing 20 visitors. ‘MuseumEye’ was built based on a literature review of immersive systems in museums and the findings of an exploratory study that reveals visitor behaviours and the nature of guidance in the museum. This project increased levels of engagement and the length of time visitors spend in museums, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in particular, using the mixed reality technology that provides visitors with additional visual, audio information and computer-generated images at various levels of details and via different media. This research introduces the guidelines of designing immersive reality guide applications using the techniques of spatial mapping, designing the multimedia and UI, and designing interactions for exploratory purposes. The main contributions of this study include various theoretical contributions: 1) creating a new form of guidance that enhances the museum experience through developing a mixed reality system; 2) a theoretical framework that assesses mixed reality guidance systems in terms of perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, interactivity, the roles of a guide and the likelihood of future use; 3) the Ambient Information Visualisation Concept for increasing visitor engagement through better presenting information and enhancing communication and interaction between visitors and exhibits; and a practical contribution in creating a mixed reality guidance system that reshapes the museum space, enhances visitors’ experience and significantly increases the length of time they spend in the museum. The evaluation comprised of quantitative surveys (171 participants and 9 experts) and qualitative observation (51 participants) using MuseumEye in their tours. The results showed positive responses for all measured aspects and compares these to similar studies. The observation results showed that visitors who use MuseumEye spent four times the duration visitors spent without guides or with human guides in front of exhibited items. The quantitative results showed significant correlations between the measured constructs (perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, multimedia and UI, interactivity) and the likelihood of future use when the roles of guide mediate the relations. Moreover, the ‘perceived guidance’ is the most influential construct on the likelihood of future use of MuseumEye. The results also revealed a high likelihood of future use, which ensures the sustainability of adopting mixed reality technology in museums. This thesis shows the potential of mixed reality guides in the museum sector that reshape the museum space and offers endless possibilities for museums and heritage sites