History and Archaeology not only are two great sources of information about our past, but they can be also a source of inspiration to better understand our future. Visiting an archeological site or a museum is generally a great experience, but sometimes it could prove to be frustrating for those who do not have a previously acquired knowledge on the subject. This translates into a poorly informative experience, especially when visiting minor Museums or Cultural Heritage sites.
In an attempt at volorzing the Museum of Fregellae, a small, minor museum in central Italy, Inglobe Technologies recently developed an interactive exhibit and application to help telling the story of the ancient Roman Colony of Fregellae in a new way. Founded by the Oscans, Fregellae became a latin colony in 328 b.C.. It was largely faithful to Rome: by destroying the bridges on the Liri river they stopped Hannibal at the cost of the devastation of the whole area.
The interactive exhibit was addressed at offering a glimpse on the life in the ancient colony. Besides the 3D reconstruction of the nucleus of the colony -with the most important Domus, Temples, Thermae and public spaces- the project also included the implementation of:
1) two interactive experiences based on gesture recognition using Microsoft Kinect, one for the Domus and the other for the Sanctuary of Aesculapius
2) an iPad app to support the visitors in the Museum – the app provides two navigation modes, one based on visual search and another one based on an interactive map (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fregellae/id956321981?mt=8)
3) an interactive website: http://projects.armedia.it/fregellae/
More details on the project can be found here:
The project was funded by the government of Lazio Region. It has been designed to be hosted by the new Museum building. By now it can be considered the starting point of a narrative path that will be probably further developed in the future.
Lesson learned: Thanks to emerging technologies also small Museums may have a chance to get valorized and noted, but will local administrators be ready to deal with this challenge?
This post is also available in: Italian
