Castel del Monte becomes a HoloMuseum: the visit will be in augmented reality

Castel del Monte, built at the behest of Frederick II of Swabia, becomes a HoloMuseum, a project developed by Hevolus Innovation in collaboration with Infratel Italia and Microsoft Italia, with the aim of contributing with the Regional Directorate of Museums of Apulia to the enhancement of art and culture in the area through the use of digital. The idea is to offer visitors innovative and engaging visitor experiences and give new competitive impetus to tourism in the Alta Murgia National Park, located between the provinces of Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani.

HoloMuseum, which is based on Microsoft’s Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Mixed Reality technologies, intends to amplify and enhance the narrative and expositional capacity of an exhibition, offering the possibility of integrating additional informative and experiential levels to the visit than those provided by the usual layout.

Indeed, it will be possible to experience the Castel del Monte museum tour in phygital mode: the visitor, having entered the museum and using his or her smartphone, will be able to access through the download of the dedicated MVRGIA app (available for both Android and iOS) a series of augmented reality contents, from the dedicated guide service, the 3D avatar of Frederick II of Swabia that will accompany the visitor by illustrating the different stages of the exhibition, to the display of multimedia content and audio-visual materials on the history of Castel del Monte and interviews with art critics, to the interaction with 3D digital models to delve into certain themes and elements of the castle’s architectural structure.

The initiative is part of the Piazza Wi-Fi Italia Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the Ministry of Economic Development, the Apulia Region, the Alta Murgia National Park and Infratel Italia, which aims to federate existing networks of municipalities, public administrations and large private entities, which manage spaces open to the public, and create new areas of free Wi-Fi access through the installation of access points near places of cultural, artistic and tourist interest. The subject of experimentation in the Alta Murgia is, in addition to the spread of Wi-Fi connectivity, the installation of smart platforms and the implementation of experimental measures and best practices for the enhancement of natural and cultural heritage.

“From a tourism perspective, culture has an extraordinary power,” said Antonella La Notte, CEO of Hevolus Innovation. "So we came up with HoloMuseum, a phygital museum concept, which evolves the traditional exhibition context into a hybrid exhibition environment by making the physical world and virtual digital content coexist: thanks to Microsoft’s XR Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing technologies, visiting a museum or exhibition can become an amplified, immersive, highly engaging, immediate and interactive experience."

“The year 2020 has had a decisive impact on the way works and cultural content in general are enjoyed,” commented Elena Silvana Saponaro, director of the National Archaeological Museum of Altamura (Bari), Castel del Monte (Andria) and Regional Director of Museums Puglia. “Due to the continuous restrictions and closures caused by the COVID19 pandemic suffered by museums and cultural venues afferent to the Puglia Regional Directorate of Museums, we have witnessed numerous digitization processes, given the proliferation of podcasts and audiovisual materials that can be used remotely. Within this scenario, the project being developed at the Unesco site of Castel del Monte-Andria BT, following the Piazza Wi-Fi Italia memorandum of understanding, is dedicated to a more broader exploration of the Unesco heritage monument in an integrated reading key with the landscape, with the territory, in order to return an image increasingly responsive to the ”intercultural“ thought that inspired Frederick II of Swabia, and the recognition of the multiple functions of the medieval ”castrum.“ The project born in 2020 during the time of confinement with the use of new digital tools aims to give visitors alternative museum experiences responsive to the new demand for cultural offerings.”

Castel del Monte becomes a HoloMuseum: the visit will be in augmented reality

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