SYNTHESIS: A Platform of Platforms for Integrated Management, Curation, and Visualization of Digital Cultural Experiences through VR and AR Technologies

Abstract

SYNTHESIS is a platform of platforms (PoP) for the management, curation, and creation of digital cultural experiences related to cultural heritage material (artifacts), and their visualization through mobile applications and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies. The digital cultural experiences may relate to specific cultural heritage monuments or exhibits of museum collections and may reside either on site or remotely. The platform provides a comprehensive supervisory tool that allows curators to select digital artifacts from different databases around the topic of interest, associate them through narratives that translate them into a sequence of semantic correlations that can be visualized using VR/AR technologies. The SYNTHESIS of platforms contributes to the creation of a new condition for the promotion of cultural heritage sites, museums, and exhibits, and facilitates the management and interaction of the user-visitor with them. The platform contributes to the creation of an innovative system for the management and curation of large volume of digital material related to an exhibit and consequently its promotion by unifying the stages of: (a) production of digital content; (b) connection of additional digital multimedia material related to the digital content; (c) curation of the digital content and transformation to a digital experience in accordance to a desired narrative; and (d) visualization of the digital experience in-situ or remotely with the use of mobile apps and VR/AR technologies.

Digital applications for preserving archaeological sites and tourism management

“…This technology is already used in several places in Europe [3], a good example being the Kameiros site in Rhodes, Greece where virtual three-dimensional constructions are superimposed over the ruins of the old city. This experience can be accessed through the "Kameiros 3D" mobile application developed by MOPTIL.…”