Day 1
Going Digital, Issues, Challenges, and Results
Dr. Roeland Paardekooper, Friedenstein Stiftung Gotha, EXARC (Germany)
We designed the RETOLD Project to professionalise open-air museums. Little did we know what challenges we were waking up. What we want to capture are the stories of our museums and the people involved. We do not show a 3D model of “just a longhouse”, we show a specific house. The video and its documentation are not about “just a craft”, it shows a unique event. These are different steps of interpretation (cf Hurcombe 2015).
Going digital helped us in structuring the information, also for colleagues in other museums, for those speaking other languages and for the public around the world. An important result is that we broke the code of how to document crafts (as example of activities) and buildings (as example of physical things). The other important outcome is the interface which makes it easier to use these long questionnaires, plus a way of extracting the information in an attractive way.
Our biggest challenge was the dialogue. We all had to lean out of our comfort zone, and it was hard. We have partners in several countries, we have archaeological open-air museums as well as a historical open-air museum, a university, technical developers, and people “in between”. It took the museums three years to explain what they needed in a language the developers could understand. It took the developers three years to get it done, and yes, much of this overlapped within the four years we had.
We are not ready! We have a very solid base, and what we have to offer is not just a product, we offer a journey. With little effort, your content can be much more valuable. Will you join us?
Our House. The Importance of documenting reconstructed Buildings – a case study from the Museumsdorf Düppel in Berlin
Dr. Julia Heeb, Stadtmuseum Berlin (Germany)
Archaeological house reconstructions in open-air museums have increased dramatically over the last twenty years. Their construction is mostly based on below ground archaeological features like postholes and fire pits. In other words, the above ground structures are interpretations of a possible outcome. Although often a lot of discussions precede the construction process, this process is rarely documented. The same goes for the construction process itself. The sense of achievement in building a house is immense and quite often the emotional aspects supersede the need to document the entire process transparently. It is understandable; however, the future uses of an archaeological house reconstruction can go way beyond creating a possible version of the past for our visitors and volunteers alike.
There is a wealth of knowledge locked in the wooden posts and wattle and daub walls. This knowledge can only be harnessed, if the entire process of planning, building, and using the house is documented. If there is a wish to use this knowledge for research purposes, large datasets are necessary. These large datasets could be achieved, if different open-air museums were to document in a standardised and comparable workflow.
This paper will explore the problems and potential of starting to implement standardised documentation practices in the Museumsdorf Düppel in Berlin, Germany.
Düppel:3D - VO:CALS
Prof. Thomas Bremer (HTW Berlin, DE:HIVE), David Witzgall (HTW Berlin, DE:HIVE) (Germany)
The project centres on the development of an advanced chat system seamlessly integrated into Unreal Engine, leveraging a customized Large Language Model (LLM) to deliver context-aware interactions within virtual environments. This system addresses the challenge of dynamically adapting responses based on player positions, thereby facilitating realistic and immersive interactions. A novel prompt system underpins this capability, mapping dependencies between Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and their surroundings using a graph database. The artistic-technical endeavour aims to pioneer innovative narrative game concepts, enhancing the realism and engagement of virtual environments. A key application of this project is demonstrated through the "Düppel: 3D" project, which digitally reconstructs a medieval village excavated in the 1960s, now part of the Berlin City Museum. By integrating the chat system, the reconstructed 12th-century village is brought to life, offering interactive, historically accurate experiences within the open-air museum setting. This project not only advances the technological frontiers of virtual interaction but also enriches cultural heritage presentations, providing a robust framework for narrative-driven content across various digital platforms.
Digitisation and 3D Visualisation: The State-of-The-Art vs Technological Appropriateness for Cultural Heritage Sites
Dr. Cordula Hansen, XYZ Technical Art Services (Germany)
As part of the RETOLD project, we planned an extensive phase of user research, where we listened to staff and volunteers in open-air museums to learn more about their experience of using digital technology, before, during and after the Covid pandemic. This presentation summarises the results and explores the barriers of adoption of digital tools and methods in open-air museums and other cultural institutions. We discuss the organisational and cultural factors contributing to the issue and offer an overview of approaches from the RETOLD project to lowering the barrier of entry for museums with regard to using digital technologies and 3D visualisation.
Not just Storytelling. Documentation traditional Crafts in a Museum Setting
Dr. George Tomegea, Complexul National Muzeal ASTRA (Romania)
In open-air museums the presentation of crafts is a basic component in communicating heritage to the public. This usually takes the form either of demonstrations or participatory craft workshops performed by craftspeople or museum educators, or classical presentations.
The importance of documenting crafts is increasing day by day because these crafts are slowly disappearing. Several factors contribute to this. For example, craftspeople are getting older, and less young people interested in taking over, there is a lack of demand for their products, and people want to pay less and less, authorities are hardly involved.
Unfortunately, there is currently no international standard for documenting crafts that meets the needs of both researchers and the interested public. Based on our experience over the years, we have developed a user-friendly tool that can be used to store and pass on relevant information on crafts. Of course, this form is a proposal, to which additions, improvements or modifications may be made in the future as it is tested on a larger scale. However, we believe that it will be of real use in day-to-day work, both in terms of the information it contains and in terms of efficiency for those who will use it, as the database created will be of a uniform nature and can be used in future research.
Integrating this form into a digital tool offers multiple advantages like the opportunity to create a global database, the possibility to be used with any inexpensive device such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop, easy access to and use of information, mobility offered by such an alternative, short completion time, and instant updating with new information.
Local Craftspeople from Romania. A valuable Resource for reconstructing Monuments in Open-Air Museums
Dr. Ioan-Cosmin Ignat, Complexul National Muzeal ASTRA (Romania)
In recent years, the curators of ASTRA Museum from Sibiu, Romania, have carried out an extensive campaign to identify local craftspeople from some Romanian historical regions. There has been created a database that serves everyone involved in the identification, transfer and reconstruction of a new monument in the open-air museum. Depending on their specialization, whether they are blacksmiths, carpenters etc., the craftspeople are contacted to offer their support, paid, in the reconstruction of the old monuments. It is an activity that brings benefits to both parties: the ASTRA Museum benefits from the knowledge and experience of the craftspeople, and they work in a favorable environment, the financial aspect not being neglected either, as they are materially rewarded.
Many times the reconstruction of monuments in the open-air museum of Dumbrava Sibilui turns into interactive workshops. Visitors have the opportunity to see how the monuments are reconstructed. Also, visitors and craftspeople can interact, creating future connections that implicitly lead to the completion of contracts between these parties.
In our presentation, we will refer both to the Romanian craftspeople who still practice old trades, disappeared in some parts of Europe, but also to their valuable contribution to the reconstruction of the monuments in the ASTRA Museum from Sibiu.
When Digital hits the Museum: Experiences of our Museum with 3D
Dr. Rüdiger Kelm, Steinzeitpark Dithmarschen (Germany)
The Stone Age Park Dithmarschen in Albersdorf (Germany) is an archaeological open-air museum focussing on the Stone Age. It consists of an outdoor park area of about 40 hectares. This includes archaeological monuments, reconstructed Mesolithic, and Neolithic buildings and a recently opened museum building with an exhibition of original artifacts.
Like in any other museum our challenge is to save and document information, especially practical work techniques and craft skills, in a sustainable way for future museum generations. Because of the evolving questions of this perspective the Stone Age Park joined Retold in 2020.
In our day-to-day business, we have no time to document, digitise and share the stories of our buildings, crafts, and such. Every step in this process was new for us, starting with the communication and data storage until the advanced creation of 3D-models of our buildings. Especially the 3D-models work as a perfect stage for sharing information about a building, whether you are standing inside it or if you are anywhere else in the world. For example, if our maintenance staff has this model on their tablet, they can walk through the house and make notes in the 3D model about repairs needed.
In the presentation it will be shown all the steps we had to solve as a smaller museum for the possibility to create 3D-models of our House reconstructions, from getting the hardware, learning to work with the software, creating 3D-models in real, use and publish them and spread this knowledge to other museums.
The Role of Research Institutions in Digital Cultural Heritage
Prof. Dr. Clara Masriera Esquerra, Prof. Dr. Paloma González-Marcén, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain)
This presentation addresses the role of research institutions in digital cultural heritage, specifically the projects developed in the Prehistory department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) network of digital humanities and heritage.
This network, established in 2016, has the aim to promote research, teaching and innovation in the field of digital humanities and heritage. The presentation discusses the various components of the network's infrastructure as well as the objectives of digitalisation of cultural heritage.
What did we get involved in? The Good and the Bad about standing in between the Digital and the Museum Reality
Guillaume Auvray MBA, Nuwa Ltd (Ireland)
The intersection of digital technologies and today's museum practices presents unprecedented opportunities for the heritage sector. However, with the fast-paced growth of technology, navigating this landscape can sometimes feel daunting and overwhelming. The "Good and the Bad about Standing in Between the Digital and the Museum Reality" workshop explores how emerging technologies can be leveraged to create new growth opportunities, scale global audience and new visitor interaction, therefore driving new recurrent financing opportunities both within and beyond the sector.
This workshop goes beyond exploration; we will showcase how digital innovation in the sector can generate new financial and operational opportunities. Participants will gain actionable insights and strategic frameworks to navigate their path forward. Designed for museum board members, curators, and audience experience professionals, as well as individuals seeking to instantiate a technology-driven project, this workshop promises to equip participants with the skills, knowledge, and tools needed to design, manage, and implement digitalisation and innovation projects.
By unlocking new possibilities for sustainable growth and reaching new audiences across the globe, this workshop is a must-attend for anyone looking to stay ahead of the curve in the digital transformation of their museums and heritage institutions.
Live Sessions Day 1 and Day 2
Live broadcast
Dr. Matilda Siebrecht, EXARC (the Netherlands)
Our online participants will be able to watch and engage with a live tour taking place at the Batavialand Museum. On Wednesday, we will be taking a tour of the famous Batavia ship and wharf, and on Thursday we will be taking a tour of the Batavialand Museum. The tours will be streamed live via the EXARC Discord server.
Day 2
Unlocking (3D) digital Heritage
Kate Fernie and Henk Alkemade, Carare (Ireland)
This presentation and extended discussion will offer you the opportunity to find out about using standards and metadata for 3D cultural heritage to make it FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). We will present some inspiring examples from across Europe, of the creation and use/ re-use of 3D content that are relevant to open-air Museums and reconstructions and we will discuss with you some lessons learned in the process.
Experiencing the Lower German Limes in a game-based Way
Stephan Engelhard, LVR-Archaeological Park Xanten, Xanten (Germany)
The Lower Rhine area is currently one of the most interesting parts of the Lower German Limes. Archaeologists have discovered various remains of military sites in recent years that bear witness to the efforts made by the Roman Empire to secure its northwestern frontier. A new exhibition tells that the river Rhine was not an impassable border. On the contrary, the ancient landscape evolved into a zone of mutual contacts, for example Roman soldiers venerated a Germanic goddess. Designed to appeal to children and young visitors, a digital experience raises curiosity to explore the new exhibition. With this self-led activity, children take on the role of a trader, learn about the life of Roman legionaries and discover everyday life in a Germanic settlement. Interactive riddles and in-game activities thus contribute to a new educational offer in a playful way.
Digitally Restoring Museum Objects to Their Original Context
Elin Tinuviel Torbergsen, Museum Nord and University of Oslo (Norway)
The objective is to create a digital relationship between the original finds in the cultural landscape and the objects inside the stand exhibition at the Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg in Lofoten, Norway. Here, the context of the find and the objects are separated. Visitors have problems understanding the historical significance of the cultural landscape at the museums and its relationship to the objects in the exhibitions. This is a general challenge that applies to many archaeological and cultural history museums, and this article will provide examples that can help solve the challenges. This is done by creating a situated AR-simulated prototype which test candidates can download on smartphones and tablets. The purpose of the test run is to find out whether the situated AR simulation appears real and contributes to a greater understanding between the original context and the objects. Since the article is in production, I can only point out the desired results. Through a questionnaire and observations, I want the test candidates to express themselves of their digital experience. That they understand the connection between objects and the site of discovery, by seeing them transferred digitally to the original site through a 3D constructed environment. In this way, they will be able to physically experience by looking for the objects in a 3D constructed landscape with Viking houses, people, and animals. But also, visually see the objects from a fragmented state to a reconstructed whole, and its entire context as an object of use in the Viking Age.
Enriching Technologies for a die-hard 'hands on' Presentation
Annenies Keur, Archeon (the Netherlands)
Museumpark Archeon in the Netherlands offers visitors a real 'hands on' experience. Visitors get to experience for themselves what life was like in prehistory, Roman times, and the Middle Ages in our country. And they get to physically participate in many things themselves. Yet digital technologies offer a rich source of additional depth to this experience. Through different media and technologies, we can offer visitors more depth, matching the experience we already give them.
For Archeon, approachability and accessibility are hugely important. We do not achieve our goal with long texts and dry tours. Digital solutions have already been realised at some locations in the museum park and are experienced as enriching. The Triclinium, a rich Roman dining hall, offers a VR experience of a cena, so you imagine yourself amid a real Roman 'cena' (Roman official meal).
In the Roman section, children can open an app that allows them to do an exciting scavenger hunt. Our online collection features 360o photos, so all objects can be admired all around, just at home behind your computer.
We will talk about these, and other digital solutions already realised, and talk about our plans.
Japan’s forgotten Pithouses: documenting the dismantling of Reconstructed Prehistoric Architecture
John Ertl (Keio University), Yasuyuki Yoshida (Morioka University), Corey Noxon (Ritsumeikan University), Yoko Ikari (Meiji University) (Japan)
In our database of reconstructed prehistoric buildings in Japan (tateana.org), we have identified nearly 1,000 buildings at 350 locations, all built after 1949. Despite the public investment in these buildings, records about them are surprisingly inconsistent. We find that this sporadic documentation causes several problems ranging from: the repetition of certain designs, a narrow specialization that discourages experimentation, and the loss of local historical narratives (ancient and contemporary). Today, many of these sites have faded from public view and their buildings have been abandoned or demolished. Unfortunately, in Japan there are even fewer records at the end of a reconstructed building’s life, and only a few attempts to learn from them (e.g., about the process of decay). In this presentation, we introduce our current work at Umenoki site (Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture) where we have created three-dimensional photogrammetry models of pit dwellings at different stages ranging from their initial completion to before being dismantled. We are considering the potential of digital documentation for understanding changes over the life history of cultural artifacts.
“Augmenting” an Open-Air Museum. The Experience at Parco Archeologico didattico del Livelet, Italy
Dott.ssa Maura Stefani, Parco Archeologico didattico del Livelet (Italy)
Parco Archeologico didattico del Livelet is an open-air museum located in North-Eastern Italy, in the Veneto Region, Province of Treviso. Three pile-dwelling structures were built at Livelet to present the everyday life on a lake shore during Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age, taking inspiration from the nearby archaeological site of Colmaggiore di Tarzo.
We have long wanted to test the potential of Virtual and Augmented Reality in open-air museums. The possibility arrived in 2023, when we participated in the selections for a funded project. We had many ideas, that partly clashed with the actual budget and the possibilities of the technologies to which we had access. We have arrived at a project that satisfies us thanks to an open dialogue with the company to which the work was entrusted, which had already collaborated with colleagues from another open-air museum in Veneto.
At the moment we are ready to launch a new educational activity, using virtual reality, and a path that the public can follow independently, with augmented reality. AR and VR will not replace any of the activities usually carried out at the open-air museum, but will complement some of them. In fact, the project was born from a long analysis of what we currently offer and what we would like to offer to the public, but do not yet do. It does not want to replace, but actually increase what is our reality.
Ship happens, now what - On the Experiences of 3D-scanning maritime archaeological Objects at Batavialand and possible Applications
Joran Smale MA, Batavialand (the Netherlands)
Spring 2024, Batavialand was graciously allowed a week of access to the Artec Leo 3D scanning device, as well as an accompanying laptop, by the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency. Goal was to become familiar with its operation, while digitising several objects from the maritime archaeological collection stored at Batavialand. In this presentation I will talk about our experiences and show some of the results, as well as examine the limitations that we encountered. I will then discuss some of the possible applications of 3D models of maritime archaeological objects, both for research purposes and for museums.
Digital Innovation inside and outside the Drents Museum
Suzanne Rus, Drents Museum (the Netherlands)
October 2024, the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands, opens a completely new presentation of its collection. In Labyrinthia visitors will take a magical journey of discovery through fifteen rooms of the museum. Each room has a completely immersive experience, as if you were really in the middle of the story. The journey takes visitors past all our masterpieces, such as the Yde girl, the Pesse canoe and Van Gogh’s paintings.
In Labyrinthia archaeology, art and history come together in a surprising mix. We create the setting for interaction and experiences for all, but specifically for families with children. Visitors can listen to iconic stories, go on a mammoth hunt, look through the eyes of Van Gogh or paddle in a canoe through the ancient bog landscape. The combination of the object, the story and a multimedia experience aim at giving visitors an insight into previous centuries in an entertaining and surprising way.
But the journey doesn’t stop at the museum. Labyrinthia – and its dedicated web app – encourages visitors to also discover Drenthe. It is a unique experience to first see the object and hear the story in the museum, and then visit the location where the object has been found or created. The app also encourages visitors to visit other museums in Drenthe to learn more about a specific period or historical event. Together with several museums and partners, we are developing AR-experiences at different locations in Drenthe. This way, we can tell another part of the story, combined with the landscape setting.
In our presentation we will explain more about the digital innovation inside and outside the Drents Museum, including different examples and lessons learned in the progress of making this new collection presentation.
The Role of Digital Asset Management in Skill Training and Preservation: An ALHFAM Project Case Study
Pete Watson (USA)
For those who use experimental archaeology, living history and reenactments to research, interpret and preserve trades, crafts, traditions, and lifeways of times past, the related work of safeguarding and sharing what has been learned is basic, but challenging. It can take years to learn and transfer what once evolved as a generationally held business requiring countless sets of hands-on skills, or a guild-protected art or craft, or a community-based tradition. What is learned can be lost in a single failure to connect one set of hands to another. How can we ensure that the elements of living, intangible cultural heritage that we preserve are as safely and comprehensively kept as the material culture associated with them? Can the historical skills of a farmer, miller, butcher, or tailor be collected, registered, curated, and preserved like the tools and equipment they use? Can we use digital resources to help skill people, and students learn, learn about, and transfer skills? During its 2010 strategic planning process, the Association for Living History, Farm & Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) 2010 identified skills training and preservation as an area of high interest and value to members. As part of an initiative to document skills, ALHFAM created a database of papers and technical articles, that is now expanding to include oral histories, videos, audio clips and other media-based content. We are exploring the possibility of growing the database by sharing it with organizational partners, and/or through the adoption of an open-source access approach. ALHFAM database founder and STP Committee Co-chair Pete Watson will present the challenges, successes failures and strategies that are shaping ALHFAM's use of both new and old technology to address needs that are common to all.
Vlogging, Podcasts and Outreach through Digital Platforms
Dr. Matilda Siebrecht, EXARC & Eva Götting-Martin, DAI (Germany)
The topic of digitalisation in archaeology encompasses a wide range of applications. From the documentation and preservation of cultural heritage, to experimental modelling and testing of research theories. In this presentation, we will be exploring how digital platforms can be used for the dissemination of archaeological knowledge by heritage professionals and institutions. We focus specifically on podcasting and vlogging. Both media forms are ever-increasing in their popularity, and provide an accessible, discoverable, and versatile way for archaeology and heritage professionals to showcase their current projects. We will provide some case studies and examples of successful podcasts and vlogs, and discuss the practicalities of both.
Digital Applications for Archaeological Open-Air Museums
Bangcheng Tang, Sichuan University, Chengdu (China)
In this presentation, I will suggest three types of digital applications for archaeological open-air museums.
In terms of external publicity and attracting visitors, we can film selected living history actors in and around the reconstructed buildings. The resulting short videos can be shared online at the museum’s website, other websites and through various network platforms to attract people to come and visit the museum in real life.
We can include scene virtual reality equipment into several of the museum’s reconstructed buildings to present the digital living history footage. This way, visitors can have a more vivid experience with virtual reality when watching the reconstructed environment. The virtual and convenient digital display is combined with the real living history display, giving the public a unique experience of visiting the archaeological open-air museum.
The hybrid presentation options can save some staff costs for the museum in the off-season. In that part of the year, a real living history show is performed in a fixed place in the museum while in the peak season, a real living history show is performed in the museum continuously.
In the aspect of ancient technology display, digitisation plays a more similar role in optimizing technology learning manuals or equipment instructions, which can effectively help the audience understand the reconstructed ancient technology based on experimental archaeological research, as well as the possible effects of each step of these ancient technologies.
After digital learning, visitors are likely to gain pleasure from the reality of digital knowledge from previous self-learning in the process of experiencing the operation of ancient technology, and effectively improve the satisfaction of visitors.
The Tustan Case: from 3D Reconstruction of a medieval cliffside Fortress to Leadership in Digitalisation of Museums in Ukraine
Vasyl Rozhko, HeMo (Ukraine)
In 1970-80, Mykhailo Rozhko carried out a graphic reconstruction of the medieval Tustan fortress thanks to the preserved cliffside traces. After 2007, the Tustan Archaeological Site Museum carried out detailed laser scanning and photogrammetry of the track rocks and recreated the lost architecture of the medieval skyscraper in 3D. The team is also experimenting with technologies for the virtual presentation of the fortress and the whole Tustan destination heritage to visitors, including AR/VR, and a mobile guide application.
With the start of the war, the Tustan team led the HeMo:Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab. We carry out expeditions to document the objects of cultural heritage of Ukraine damaged by the Russians in the war and create a database for their stabilisation and restoration. The second direction of Hemo is the digitisation of museums. We have created a Museum Digitisation Centre in Lviv to digitise collections of various types according to international standards. We also developed a program for electronic accounting of museum objects and automation of processes.
https://www.heritage.in.ua/en
https://www.heritage.in.ua/digitization-en
Museum Theatre, the digital Transition and Future of first-person narrative History
Dr Foteini Venieri & Rebecca Shelley, Heterotopia Museum Theatre, Athens (Greece)
Museums and heritage sites have long been essential resources for history education, providing interactive, multisensory learning experiences that foster critical thinking and cultural literacy. The pandemic-driven digital transition of live, person-led museum learning has opened up significant opportunities for innovative educational approaches while also presenting challenges for museums and their audiences. Within this digital realm, museum theatre emerges as a dynamic method for historical interpretation.
The evolution of museum theatre, rooted in early European open-air and eco museums, has advanced alongside social history and new museology movements, now incorporating interdisciplinary and participatory practices. The advent of immersive and interactive technologies offers novel ways to present first-person narratives, reaching new audiences in engaging ways. The digital transition of first-person interpretation highlights the potential for enriched online learning experiences.
Online museum theatre mirrors its physical counterpart by featuring performers who embody historical personas to guide virtual tours, deliver interpretative content, or participate in scripted scenarios. These performances, often supported by primary materials, can take place in museum spaces, heritage sites, or specially designed digital settings. This immersive approach deepens visitor understanding and appreciation of historical narratives, with first-person interpretation being a foundational format.
Recent research and practice-based initiatives have focused on the digital transition of museum theatre, examining how it enhances online and virtual museum engagement. This presentation will provide an overview of these findings, showcasing the impact of museum theatre on virtual learning. The discussion will highlight emerging trends, propose future research directions, and suggest innovative strategies for content development and dissemination in the digital realm, promising valuable insights into the future of museum learning.
