Geomatics and Virtual tourism

The most recent technological revolution, concerning web and “ICT”, not only changed individual and collective behaviors, but also allowed experiences no possible before: a real time communication, regardless of the distances; an extended access to disjointed data and sources; the shift in different realities – missing or entirely imaginary. Nowadays, we can think about a new concept of museum, much more inclusive than “objects container”: now the museum involves entire countries, entire ecosystems, entire regions. We can speak of “museum outside of the museum”, to extend museum “storytelling” to a regional scale, beyond the walls of the traditional museum. On a regional scale experiments entirely convincing have not yet been carried out, but from this point of view cultural lands can be visited as great open air museums, to find objects, artworks or signs: the whole land is a “collection” to be preserved, to be presented and to be interpreted. Thus the visit allows to elicit outstanding objects, to read into landscapes with different filters. Both the physical and virtual visit seem to be a “tour” (Minucciani and Garnero, 2013). To create a virtual tourism prototypal station, we need several and unconventional geometrical data (shared geographic databases, DTMs, digital orthoimages and angle shots, modeling with spherical cameras, ...), thematic data (related to cultural content) and no conventional input units to move and to observe how and where the observer prefers. Authors report here their experience to carry out a prototypal station, able to relate geomatics references to cultural content and to offer a whole experience, involving users also from the sensory point of view. That’s nowadays a specific purpose of new technologies applied to cultural heritage

Pressure of tourism on heritage and technologies for an inclusive society

The heritage enhancement contains in itself a contradiction that seems irreconcilable: on one side they have to broaden its accessibility, on the other they have to limit damages caused by tourism. An elitist tourism cannot constitute the solution, but alternative types of fruition could in part come in aid, thanks to ICT and georeference. Nowadays, technologies not only are directed to replace the real experience, or to enhance it, but even to simulate it by entering parameters of physical reality. Therefore, in this field they are developing “virtual tourism” projects, that will lead to a wide accessibility of cultural heritage, in view of a true "inclusive society" able to reach even the weaker segments of the population – in the same time, the indiscriminate use of heritage could be reduced. The natural evolution of these projects may even involve the landscape, urban and architectural design (e.g. the transport planning, or innovative infrastructures). This kind of approach, that requires and combines humanities and technical skills, aims to make available and accessible not only the historical, architectural and artistic heritage in itself, but also intended as system

Geomatics and virtual tourism

The most recent technological revolution, concerning web and "ICT", not only changed individual and collective behaviors, but also allowed experiences no possible before: a real time communication, regardless of the distances; an extended access to disjointed data and sources; the shift in different realities - missing or entirely imaginary. Nowadays, we can think about a new concept of museum, much more inclusive than "objects container": now the museum involves entire countries, entire ecosystems, entire regions. We can speak of "museum outside of the museum", to extend museum "storytelling" to a regional scale, beyond the walls of the traditional museum. On a regional scale experiments entirely convincing have not yet been carried out, but from this point of view cultural lands can be visited as great open air museums, to find objects, artworks or signs: the whole land is a "collection" to be preserved, to be presented and to be interpreted. Thus the visit allows to elicit outstanding objects, to read into landscapes with different filters. Both the physical and virtual visit seem to be a "tour" (Minucciani and Garnero, 2013). To create a virtual tourism prototypal station, we need several and unconventional geometrical data (shared geographic databases, DTMs, digital orthoimages and angle shots, modeling with spherical cameras, ...), thematic data (related to cultural content) and no conventional input units to move and to observe how and where the observer prefers. Authors report here their experience to carry out a prototypal station, able to relate geomatics references to cultural content and to offer a whole experience, involving users also from the sensory point of view. That's nowadays a specific purpose of new technologies applied to cultural heritage

Contents accessibility in archaeological museums and sites: a proposal for a neuropsychological approach

With specific reference to the issue of accessibility to cultural content and the inclusion of different audiences, the Authors point out an overview where museums usually tend to create educational activities and support assistive devices dedicated to specific audiences, rather than integrated solutions, that can “be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible”, as stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). Based on previous studies on cultural accessibility and emotional appropriation, the Authors have recently carried out a survey focused on archaeological museums audiences, considering their expectations, their reactions, and their prejudices. At the same time, they have conducted an extensive series of online interviews with Curators and Directors of many archaeological museums and sites in Europe and worldwide, including some in-depth site visits too. The investigations and surveys carried out have strengthened the awareness that museum spaces generate not only cognitive, but also physical and emotional reactions, and that the various publics react to cultural stimuli in very different ways. Therefore, while designing museum communication, a disciplinary contamination involving the field of neuropsychology is needed. By illustrating the current research and describing a series of examples, the paper aims at highlighting how the “design for all” in museums is a field in continuous development