e-Real Museum of Zoology in Rome

The project

Customer need

Incorporate different technologies to streamline the access to cultural content, expanding the existing exhibition space through the creation of interactive solutions that effectively heighten visitor engagement across all age groups.

Description of the identified solution

Extended Reality was the perfect tool to expand the actual exhibition space and enrich it with digital features.

Description

Through meticulously crafted immersive and interactive technologies, zoological discoveries and memories emerge and visitors engage directly and profoundly with the exhibition. This transformative experience allows for a deeper understanding as visitors explore stories, relive experiences, and even interact with the museum’s founder, Mr. Arrigoni degli Oddi, now embodied as a virtualized avatar or a digital persona capable of engaging in conversations. Every interaction is facilitated through straightforward manual gestures and, in some cases, voice inputs seamlessly converted into commands acknowledged by the multimedia systems.

Digitalization plays a pivotal role in preserving and promoting cultural heritage, with a primary focus on enhancing real-life experiences rather than replacing them. The digital realm serves not only as a tool for dematerializing our cultural heritage but, particularly when coupled with visual storytelling, emerges as a potent instrument to augment human capacity in crafting compelling content and memorable experiences. We have therefore participated in the creation of new spaces and innovative solutions to ensure the public’s access to a vibrant and unforgettable experience.

Multi-surface environments, such as those created within the museum rooms involved in our intervention, require users to be “physically” involved in the interaction and enable actions such as pointing at a distant object or walking towards a large screen to see more details.

The stages of the project:

• The development of multimedia content and digital exhibitions.
• The application of methodologies aimed at generating profits for the museum.
• The installation of immersive environments that allow sensory and physical interaction with relevant content.

Graphics and programming

Among the multiple applications created for the museum, there is one that stands out for its graphic and technological innovation. With meticulous adherence to the requirements of historical accuracy and technical excellence, we have fashioned a 3D avatar of Count Arrigoni in the room bearing his name.

Our close collaboration with the museum, supported by the provision of original photographs of the Count, ensured the avatar’s faithful representation of its historical counterpart. Access to authentic sources empowered us to precisely model the avatar, replicating in meticulous detail the physical appearance, clothing, and accessories of the Count, staying true to historical reality.

As for facial modeling and expressions, we used advanced digital sculpting and texture mapping techniques. This approach has facilitated the creation of a faithful and recognisable face capable of expressing a wide range of emotions — a characteristic, that has proven essential in heightening users’ interaction and engagement with the avatar.

The processes of 3D modeling and avatar animation were executed with great care. The goal was to create an extremely detailed model, optimized to ensure smooth and high-quality performance in order to avoid overloading software resources. This balance between detail and performance made the avatar a distinctive element in the experience offered by the museum’s “Sala Arrigoni”.

Conclusions

The most important results were:

• Elevating the museum’s heritage, disseminating its knowledge, and engaging the target audience through a multifaceted approach that incorporates visual and multimedia elements, tactile experiences, as well as audio and olfactory communication tools.
• Use of new digital media to improve the museum’s offerings.
• Improved accessibility to the museum’s collection, increased through the promotion and organisation of multimedia content.

Viewing information allows visitors to quickly and efficiently gain insights and understanding. Views show relationships between topics, trigger engagement, provoke unexplored questions for visitors, and facilitate enhanced memorization.

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