The Acropolis on the Immersive Web

We report here on an application of reality media (virtual and augmented reality) to digital cultural heritage. The particular challenge we address is: how to combine VR and AR to bridge the gap between the center (the museum housing cultural artifacts) and periphery (the heritage site where the artifacts were found) while at the same time attending to, even enhancing, the aura of both artifacts and sites? Our proposed solution is to implement the cultural heritage technique known as situated simulation (sitsim) in combination with a social virtual environment called Hubs. Our case study is a sitsim of the Acropolis in Athens, which can function on location and remotely and offers real-time conferencing capabilities for its participants.

Remediation of Historical Photographs in Mobile Augmented Reality

Being present at a location of historical significance, often demands imagination to understand the full scope of the area. An approach to spark one’s imagination is to present a mediated simulation of a historic location in situ. As an application example, we used the sitsim AR platform to develop a simulation that conveys the history of fishermen in the historic fishing village of Storvågan in Lofoten, Norway. The study presents a rendition of the sitsim AR platform’s functionality for engaging presentations of historical photographs. This functionality is enhanced from solely representing buildings in a historical photograph into also representing animated human characters. In Storvågan, a museum (Lofotmuseet) occupies historically significant buildings amid the historic surroundings. This museum exhibits a historical photograph of fishermen that also shows how the area once looked. This photograph is remediated into a 3D animation, presented as a real-time generated simulation, at the location where the photograph was originally photographed. The study documents a design experiment including the modelling and animation of a 3D representation depicting the photograph. The functionality is evaluated based on user feedback from a case study of a beta version on location in Lofoten. Users reported that the animated fishermen contribute to an engaging experience and a feeling of being “part of the history.” The majority of users perceived the 3D representation as credible. An analysis of the modelled characters concludes that the 3D-models lack perceptual validity; hence, the case study’s positive results were somewhat unexpected. Three theories are presented as conceivable explanations for the unexpected result. Ultimately, the study provides a method for modelling and animation of people from a historical photograph, and showcases how the animation of human characters in a sitsim may be applied to convey cultural heritage in an engaging way.

Museums, Artefacts and Cultural Heritage Sites

The relationships between museums, artefacts and original sites are complex. How may we use mobile augmented reality (AR) to bridge the gaps between both indoors and outdoors exhibitions as well as the opposition between central collections and the more peripheral sites of the original artefacts? In this paper we present two main cases (the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo and the Calmecac Museum in Mexico City) where we have experimented with bringing a digital copy of the displaced artefact back to its original environment, as well as bringing a digital copy of the original environment into the displaced or isolated object in the museum exhibition. Further, we report on a solution to solve the problem with indoor positioning (IPS) and how it can be seamlessly combined with GPS–based outdoor positioning for smooth transitions between inside and outside. Finally, these cases were tested with three different hardware platforms - tablets, smartphones and smartglasses.

Virtual Community Heritage – An Immersive Approach to Community Heritage

Our relationship with cultural heritage has been transformed by digital technologies. Opportunities have emerged to preserve and access cultural heritage material while engaging an audience at both regional and global level. Accessibility of technology has enabled audiences to participate in digital heritage curation process. Participatory practices and co-production methodologies have created new relationships between museums and communities, as they are engaged to become active participants in the co-design and co-creation of heritage material. Audiences are more interested in experiences vs services nowadays and museums and heritage organisations have potential to entertain while providing engaging experiences beyond their physical walls. Mixed reality is an emerging method of engagement that has allowed enhanced interaction beyond traditional 3D visualisation models into fully immersive worlds. There is potential to transport audiences to past worlds that enhance their experience and understanding of cultural heritage.

The Use of Digital Solutions in Museums Today and in the Future

In this paper we look at digital solutions in museums today and with a view to the future. We believe that they have a potential to innovate museum practices and reach audiences with relevant content. We have found the Norwegian Government’s Museum Framework (Kulturdepartementet 2009) a useful starting point to consider ‘digital’ through the lens of the areas of collection care, research, content dissemination, innovation and business development. In this paper, our focus is on smaller museums and heritage organisations. We contribute our thoughts, experiences and give some practical ideas how small museums can better utilise digital media and digital solutions. This paper was written by staff members of Museum Nord who are part of the Research and Development Team. Museum Nord was lead partner in the CINE project, 2017-2020 (CINE project 2017) which enabled the team to gain valuable insights into this area of knowledge and practice.

Foreword to Special Issue

According to the International Council of Museums (ICOM, https://icom.museum/en/) current definition, “A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.” As we move into the third decade of the 21st century, cultural heritage institutions throughout the world are using innovative digital solutions to enhance their work in all areas and also in how they communicate and exhibit heritage. This journal Special Issue presents articles that show examples and case studies demonstrating how invention and innovation can successfully take place when Museums and Digital Media converge.

Paradigmatic innovation in European cultural journalism: the pursuit of sustainability

This article examines paradigmatic innovation (innovations in business models, mindsets and organizational values) in European cultural journalism. I hypothesize that paradigmatic innovation acts as a driver for innovations in product, process and positioning, and address two research questions: 1) How are the media innovating regarding their paradigm, both general and specifically in the culture section? 2) How does paradigmatic innovation affect the overall editorial positioning, including cultural scope and coverage, product and processes? Findings suggest that we are witnessing a paradigm shift in business models in the digital environment, challenging traditional boundaries related to editorial and branded content and expanding the revenue sources beyond the editorial core. I conclude that media innovation is firstly a paradigmatic innovation which impacts sustainability, the editorial products and processes, as well as brand positioning and extensions. The article proposes four types of paradigmatic innovation based on the analysis.

Normative principles in newsroom innovation. The case of 360° video adoption by editorial knowledge champions

Technology innovation adoption is critical for the survival of news organizations in the digital age. However, it has been argued that innovations should not be adopted at any price in journalism. This explorative study investigates drivers and obstacles for innovation adoption of 360° videos in eight news organizations in Switzerland from the perspective of the knowledge champion in the editorial office. Based on interviews, we find that the question of what an innovation will change regarding resources, processes, and the alignment to professional norms is relevant at an early stage of innovation adoption. Potential monetary, audience, and company image benefits of an innovation become relevant for its proficient adoption. Knowledge champions carefully evaluate the new technology against normative journalistic principles and benefits for the organization. We argue that for understanding innovation adoption in newsrooms, the negotiation of professional norms has to be considered as this negotiation can drive or restrain innovation adoption. As journalists do not innovate at any costs but consider journalism’s societal purpose when assessing new technology, models of newsroom innovation adoption need to include the negotiation of normative principles.

Media innovation and social impact: the case of living documentaries

This scholarly essay discusses one particular form of documentary production: interactive documentary. It does so in the larger context of media innovation research. Its main aim is to shed light on how those thinking and creating living documentaries define and frame social impact. The thesis behind this essay is, that contrary to media innovation happening within the paradigm of what scholars and practitioners call the ‘media industries’ - which are largely tributary to capitalist impact criteria, living documentary producers are mainly driven by the potential social impact that their work might have. By presenting and analysing the living documentary Field Trip (2019), a project in which I assumed a combined role of practitioner-researcher, I offer a case study that illustrates and tests my assumptions. I complement my observations within the case study with interviews and other practices. My findings indicate that from a media production perspective, the impact expectations of those making living documentaries can loosely be as associated with a commons-based production paradigm. Yet, producers of these documentaries constantly need to renegotiate and compromise on their social impact expectations because of internal production affordances and the (external) dominance of the ‘media industries’ paradigm.

Strategic relationship management and civic information in an activist organization

This study examines the organizational practices of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, a social activist organization, between January 1 and October 1, 2018 to understand the organization’s strategic data-driven practices during activist campaigns. The results provide important insights into the mechanisms a digital-grassroots organization takes to spread civic information to users for political participation. In a series of semi-structured interviews, analyzed with content-analysis, respondents indicated organizational practices that included the use of a non-partisan political customer relationship management (CRM) platform, social matching, and interest-based targeted emailing. CODEPINK uses these tools to help facilitate support for fundraising, direct marketing, and organizing campaigns. Understanding how social movement organizations use media innovations to support their action repertoires provides a better framework for understanding modern-day activist practices.