RETOLD

The RETOLD project is beginning to show its first technological results. Through close collaboration between RETOLD partners UAB and Nuwa Digital Media and under leadership from EXARC, a working prototype of our digital documentation tool for open-air museums is being built.

Early March, we had the chance to visit the Steinzeitpark Dithmarschen in Schleswig, Germany. Occasion was the official opening of their new museum building, a project which was at least ten years in the making, but it was an excellent opportunity for preparations of the RETOLD meeting which will take place here in Autumn-Winter 2023. EXARC is the lead partner in this cooperation project. This meeting in late 2023 in Dithmarschen is foreseen to be a study meeting where we will discuss progress of the EU project, very important because coming winter we will enter the final year of the project.

Over the past three weeks EXARC worked with the three RETOLD museums partners to develop the banners for the second stage of the exhibition, each of the partners is holding at their premises. In 2022 we developed banners which explained the project goals and the partners.

In Berlin, in the Museum Village Düppel, exciting steps are taken. Their village and the surroundings are based on excavation results of a real medieval settlement from around 1200 AD. Can Düppel be digitized? They want to create a digital museum village which can be used in virtual- and augmented reality for education. We can also use digital models to show alternative interpretations of house reconstruction as well as engaging new visitor groups with cultural heritage through virtual and augmented realities.

Results of the Project virt:düppel now on Sketchfab!

In January 2023 our accountant who will do a final audit / reporting of the project (EXARC part) had a look at the first two project years. We wanted to be sure that the system is clear, that all the files can be found and are properly connected to the reporting form. In this way the work of the audit at the end of the project can be done faster, as he will only need to check the last two years and make a final report. We will only have two months to report the whole project back to the EU, and there is also a Christmas break in between.

In the second year of the RETOLD project (2022), a large scope of activities took place.

Following the vlogging seminar back in May 2021, RETOLD partners have been testing their new skills and creating RETOLD related videos, either about the project or documenting activities and events taking place. 

The work of the last six months has been focused on the design of a unified database that can accommodate all the data requirements for the project. With the aim of having a standard solution for all the parties we took the CIDOC-CRM specification as the base for structuring the data. CIDOC-CRM is defined as a formal ontology intended to facilitate the integration, mediation and interchange of heterogeneous cultural heritage information and similar information. This ontology tries to inform developers of information systems as a guide to good practice in conceptual modelling, to effectively structure and relate information assets of cultural documentation.

On 15 September 2022, the museum partners of the RETOLD project met online to participate in a workshop on short video marking and editing for social media, focussing on what works best for (open-air) museums.