The fortification known as „White Bastion“ is one of the most impressive and important historical sites in Sarajevo. It is located on the southeast outskirts of the City, with an overview on the city valley. During the history, it had a very significant and strategic position. The fortification is a part of the dominant defense walls that were surrounding the old city of “Vratnik”.

The value of the historical site presents the various strata, starting from medieval until the present time. During the archaeological excavations, there were found the remains from medieval fortification from the 14th century, Ottomans period (17th century) when the fortification was expanded and some new objects were built. During Austro-Hungarian rule, the part of the fortification and the object inside the walls were demolished and destroyed and a new group of objects was built. During the early excavation, a significant number of artifacts was found, registered and conserved for the purpose of the exhibition hosted in Museum of Sarajevo.

4D Virtual presentation of White Bastion aims to present the historical development of this cultural heritage object through digital stories combined with interactive 3D models of the Bastion in various time periods. These models contain digitized findings from the site and their 3D reconstructions.

This project is a part of Case study “Visualization of White Bastion fortress based on 3D Spatial Documentation of Material Cultural Heritage And Interactive Digital Storytelling» implemented by Sarajevo Graphics Group, Faculty of Electrical Engineering Sarajevo within the COST-Action TD 1201: Colour and Space in Cultural Heritage (COSCH)

Project team

• authors of the idea – Selma Rizvić and Adnan Muftarević
• consultant archaeologist – Adnan Muftarević
• actor – Mirsad Tuka
• scenario – Fatmir Alispahić

Faculty of Electrical Engineering Sarajevo – Sarajevo Graphics Group

• 3D modeling and web design – Aida Sadžak
• web programming – Irfan Prazina
• archaeological findings digitization – Fotis Arnaoutoglou “Athena” Research & Innovation Center, Greece

DIGI.BA

• technical secretary – Reuf Kapidžić
• archaeological findings 3D reconstruction – Mirsad Festa

BHRT

Radio drama program crew

• producer – Miralem Ovčina
• sound technician – Željko Marković
• speaker – Jesenko Krehić

BHT1 crew

• editing producer – Nihad Zečević
• producer – Zlatomir Ban
• executive producer – Jasmin Salanović
• driver – Omer Bukić
• wardrobe – Dina Žunić and Bisera Bajić
• makeup – Lamija Hadžihasanović – Homarac
• lighting – Elvedin Hamzić
• location sound – Nedim Muminović
• music composer and sound designer – Adnan Mušanović
• drawings and computer animation – Mirsad Festa
• graphics design and computer animation – Aida Sadžak
• editor – Nermin Komarica
• director of photography – Hakija Hadžalic
• director – Vedad Hodžić
• project coordinator – Selma Rizvić

With thanks to

• Emir Ganić for drone footage
• Diwan language services provider for the English translation
• the National theater Sarajevo for providing the costumes

Produced by
ETF/DIGI.BA/BHRT
April 2016

Sarajevo Graphics Group from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo, has been tasked within the H2020 project iMARECULTURE to develop a new method of interactive digital storytelling for cultural heritage – hyper storytelling. Kyrenia application is a pilot interactive digital story created according to recommendations of an interdisciplinary team of experts from computer science, visual arts, film directing, psychology, communicology and human-computer interaction. Based on user evaluation of this pilot story, the hyper storytelling method will be adjusted and implemented in other output applications of iMARECULTURE.

Project team

Interdisciplinary experts group:

• Selma Rizvić, Dušanka Bošković, Vensada Okanović, Faculty of Electrical Engineering Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Fahira Fejzić Čengić, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Nermin Đapo, Fatmir Alispahić, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Ahmed Imamović, Sarajevo Film Academy, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bojan Hadžihalilović, Fine Arts Academy, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

English translation: Ulvija Tanović

Scenario: Fatmir Alispahić

Actors: Selma Alispahić, Senad Alihodžić

Costume: Adisa Vatreš Selimović

Visual identity: Bojan Hadžihalilović

Illustrations: Enis Čišić

UI/UX design: Ena Čabrić

Virtual reality and web implementation: Sanda Šljivo

Music and sound postproduction: Adnan Mušanović

Editor and compositing artist: Vanja Mijatović

Compositing artists: Aida Sadžak, Mirsad Festa, Džana Torlak Hulusić, Selma Rizvić

Camera: Bojan Mijatović

Directed by: Ahmed Imamović

Production coordinator: Selma Rizvić

Sarajevo, April 2017

This application is permanently installed in the Vatican Museum since 2013 (Gregorian-Etruscan section).
The Regolini Galassi tomb, in Cerveteri, is one of the richest, ancient and well known of the Etruscan culture. The finds from this tombs are exhibited in the Vatican Museum and the existing (empty) tomb is not always open to the public. By making 3D reconstructions of the tomb and of the objects which were originally found inside, we can re-propose the original context.
The 3D reconstruction made on the Regolini Galassi tomb is useful both in the interpretative process and in public presentation. As the process of virtual reconstruction of the Regolini Galassi grave tries to visualise this tomb at the moment it was closed, we need to recompose the original set up of the objects and their ancient aspect, virtually restoring their shape and colour. By developing a 3D reconstruction of the Regolini Galassi tomb, we have been forced to re-evaluate and re-interpret all of the available sources in order to seek answers to difficult questions.

VR and Natural Interaction Interfaces

The installation proposes new paradigms of interaction based on natural interfaces, that means that the user moves inside the 3D space just through his body movements. The public has the possibility to explore the virtual Regolini Galassi tomb, to get near the artifacts, to listen to narrative contents from the voices of the prestigious Etruscan personages buried inside to which such precious objects were dedicated. All this is possible moving in the space in front of the projection, in the simplest and natural way. The users feel much more embodied in the 3D space. Moreover, the user can find a balance between active interaction and relax listening to the stories.
The large projection, the evocative storytelling in the first person, the use of the lights that reveal the objects gradually, as soon as space is penetrated, the original “soundscape” composed for this application, the physical involvement of the user produce an impression of strong sensorial immersivity.
The system has been derived from the new generation of games, but for the first time, it has been applied to VR environments dedicated to Cultural Heritage (CH) and experimented with inside museums.

The application is built in Unity 3D and uses the Kinect sensor for motion capture.
In October 2013 the application won the first Italian Heritage Award for Communication and Dissemination of the Cultural Heritage.
In November 2012 this application has won the Best Award in the category “New Interaction” during the international exhibition of virtual archaeological “Archeovirtual”; in the same occasion, it has been also the most voted application by the public, on a total amount of twenty applications.
In 2013-2015 the installation has been presented also in important cities and capitals in the world, in the exhibition “L’Italia nel Futuro”, promoted by Italian MAE.

Etruscanning is a two-year project funded by the European Commission within the Culture 2007 framework.
The project started in 2011 and it was concluded in April 2013.
It focuses on the investigation of new digital documentation and visualization techniques to re-create and restore the original context of Etruscan tombs. Through the cooperation of museums and research organizations from 3 European countries, the project aims at the digital acquisition, digital restoration and 3D reconstruction of Etruscan tombs and artifacts and their presentation to the public through innovative VR systems. The applications are proposed at exhibitions in the Netherlands, Belgium and for permanent use in Italian museums (Vatican Museums, National Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia).

Project team and partners

• Multimedia design and coordination: Eva Pietroni, CNR ITABC.

Main partners

• Allard Pierson Museum, the Netherlands
• CNR-ITABC, Rome, Italy
• Visual Dimension, Ename, Belgium
• National Museum for Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands
• Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren, Belgium

Associated partners

• the Vatican Museum, Soprintendenza all’Etruria Meridionale
• CNR ISCIMA collaborated to the project for scientific support
• E.V.O.CA. srl collaborated to the software development

The Virtual Museum of the Tiber Valley has been conceived in order to increment and disseminate the knowledge, the interest and the affection towards the territory north of Rome, crossed by the Tiber river and by two important Roman consular roads, via Salaria and via Flaminia, an area 40 km long x 60 km wide. An integrated communicative system has been created, VR and multimedia installations placed in the museums disseminated in this area and, at a central level, in Rome inside more attended and important museums (National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia). Starting from a cross-disciplinary study and documentation of the territory and of its evolution across the time (from 3 million years ago until today), 3D representations at different scales have been realized, from the whole landscape to specific sites.

One of the results of the project is a spectacular VR application characterized by gesture-based interaction, by an innovative approach in interactive storytelling and by an artistic and evocative style even if based on scientific contents. It has been presented as a permanent installation in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia Museum, in Rome, on the 16th of December 2014.

It consists of four different sceneries that are visualized on three aligned 65 inches screens, aiming at creating a new evocative and narrative access to the territory of the middle valley of the Tiber. It allows the visitor to see the Tiber through the eyes of a fish that swims in the river, a bird that flies over the landscape, the ancient characters living in the Roman city of Lucus Feroniae, and a freed slave that lives his own dramatic experience inside a famous roman villa, Villa dei Volusii.

One of the most innovative aspects is the new approach in the narratives and interactive storytelling. We avoid transmitting cultural contents about the Tiber Valley through a pure informative and descriptive approach, as it is already possible in thousands of websites that everyone can access by mobile devices. On the contrary, in this project we propose an original style, for instance, we use poetries and literary quotes taken from the ancient and modern authors, referring about the history, the populations and the identity of this territory. Moreover, we use the archaeological and historical context as a scientific background to build an interactive and engaging story seen from the perspective of specific characters. Thus, the reconstructed sites become a stage for storytelling, where ancient personages are the leading actors, dialoguing and interacting among them and occasionally with the user. These characters are not in 3D but they are real actors, shot in a virtual set while performing in front of a green screen and then integrated into the 3D sceneries.

On the three aligned large screens the user can experiment different visualizations: the observed archaeological environment and 3D reconstruction of the past are shown in parallel on different screens during the exploration, using camera tracking metaphors; this solution allows the public to have a better perception and understanding of the context.

The use of a so involving storytelling led us toward a new approach in the virtual exploration, going beyond the traditional paradigms of virtual reality. We needed to create a “direction” of cameras to favor an emotional engagement (as it happens in movies) but keeping a certain degree of freedom for the user in the exploration of the 3D space. We also tried to balance the right level of interactivity for the general public of the museum: the four different sceneries require different degrees of physical engagement, in order to match different target (from children to elder people).

So a novel integration of different paradigms and media has been experimented, combining virtual reality, natural interaction, augmented reality and cinematographic rules.

In conclusion in this project the efforts have been oriented towards the creation of an emotional, multi-sensorial scenario, inside which visitors can feel immersed and involved and acquire cultural contents in a pleasant and not frustrating way. Many factors contribute to creating such a condition: narrative plots and non–linear interactive storytelling, interaction design, interface design, immersivity level, soundscapes. In this perspective, we tried to combine science, art and technology, to meet both museums and research needs.

Project team and partners

The project has been realized by CNR-ITABC (NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED TO CULTURAL HERITAGE), with the support of Arcus S.p.A. and in collaboration with Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici del Lazio, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Etruria Meridionale, Società Geografica Italiana.
Design, contents and software development are by CNR ITABC, E.V.O.CA. srl, in collaboration with Franz Fischnaller (F.A.B.R.I.CATORS).

Defend the walls! is a serious game that deals with the technology and tactics of siege of the IV century BC, the war machines and the strategies of attack and defense, the architectural characteristics of the towers and the city walls of Paestum (that was called Poseidonia before the Romans), functional to face an enemy attack at that time.

Project team and partners

It has been realized in 2015 by E.V.O.CA. s.r.l. in collaboration with CNR, Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC) and Institute of Sciences and Technologies of Cognition (ISTC), with the historical and archaeological support of Fondazione Paestum, Salerno University; it has been financed by Arcus S.p.A.

This movie reveals the figure of the ancient Italic goddess Feronia, to whom a “Lucus” was consecrated, firstly intended as sacred wood and then become a sanctuary attended by the peoples of central Italy before the Roman conquest. Emperor Augustus transformed Lucus Feroniae into a Roman colony. The cult of Feronia was replaced by Salus Frugifera and Feronia was “officially” forgotten. Today’s memory, however, brings Feronia still alive, no longer remembered by names recalling forests, sanctuaries or votive statues but by the names of a movie theatre, a mall, a motorway stop, and small commercial properties.

In the movie, the 3D reconstruction of the possible aspect of Lucus Feroniae city is presented, specifically in the Tiberian and then Trajan ages. The characters that populate the spaces are actors filmed in green screen. The leading idea of the movie is revealing the sense of time and immortality through the vision of the “spirit of the place”.

The movie recalls the silent cinema style of the ‘20s of the ‘900, here re-interpreted under a modern key.

Project team and partners

Realized for the Virtual Museum of the Tiber Valley by CNR ITABC in collaboration with E.V.O.CA. srl and with the support of Arcus SpA.

BEYOND THE MUSEUM’S OBJECT. ENVISIONING STORIES

Under the CEMEC European project, Connecting European Early Medieval Collections, a novel kind of multimedia installation has been created for an exhibition that will be travelling across European Museums until the end of 2019. It is dedicated to the Kunágota sword, belonged to an Avar warrior of the 7th century A.D., currently preserved in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, where the installation has been already on display, from the begin of March until mid May 2017. The installation is conceived to be connected to the museum’s collections and consists in a holographic showcase integrated into a projection wall. In the showcase, the real artifact is shown and thanks to the virtual projection on and around it, it is brought back to life: the public can watch and listen to fragments of its story, evoking characters, events, voices. Thus, the visitors’ experience is enhanced through detailed visualization, virtual restoration, contextualization, storytelling and dramatization of the object.

Project team and partners

The concept and the realization have been developed by CNR ITABC – VHLab in collaboration with E.V.O.CA. and the National Hungarian Museum of Budapest.

Under the CEMEC European project, Connecting European Early Medieval Collections, a novel kind of multimedia installation has been created by CNR ITABC and E.V.O.CA. and presented at the Byzantine Museum of Athens, from May to October 2018.

The installation is conceived to create a powerful connection between real artifacts, belonging to the famous Mytilene treasure, and the virtual contents, and it consists in a holographic showcase located along the path of the visit.

In the showcase, the real artifacts are shown and thanks to the virtual projection on and around them, they are brought back to life: the public can watch and listen to fragments of their story, evoking characters, functions and events.

The communication allows:

• 1) neutral vision of the objects,
• 2) analytic vision and interpretation of the details,
• 3) dramatization.

This combination takes the visitors in the middle of a powerful perceptive and cognitive experience of mixed reality.

Project team and partners

Direction of the multimedia project: Eva Pietroni, CNR ITABC

Noho has worked with Dublinia (https://www.dublinia.ie) since 2009, creating AV and interactive experiences for numerous physical and virtual exhibitions. The relationship began when the Noho team produced a digital model and series of educational DVDs for primary schools in Dublin. In the ensuing years, we have expanded on this content to develop an extensive set of video, interactive and other digital resources covering multiple aspects of medieval life in the city.

Much of this work can be seen online on the Dublinia website at www.dublinia.ie. There are modules for Primary and Secondary schoolchildren and a third for the general visitor. Each features an interactive timeline that presents a birds-eye view of the city during the Viking and Medieval period. Multiple hotspots appear containing video animations, evocative graphics and simple, accessible text relating to different aspects of life during the period.

In 2016, Noho released a major update to the project’s smartphone app, Dublin City Walls, first commissioned in 2009. A self-guided walking tour of the medieval city, the app has proven extremely popular with tourists and locals alike.

In 2014, Noho produced an AV presentation on the Battle of Clontarf to coincide with the millennial anniversary of that historic event. The film was complemented with an entertaining character vignette featuring a scribe writing a history of the battle.

In 2015, Noho created several new interactive touchscreen applications featuring various Viking- and Medieval-themed quizzes and games. These were aimed specifically at school children and tourists. Complemented by other AV presentations, they are an extremely popular part of the Dublinia experience.

Currently, Noho are developing a 3D VR Experience that will bring visitors through the streets of the city, providing a 360-degree view of its major landmarks and attractions. This experience will add a further dimension to this extremely popular visitor attraction.

In 2016 Noho completed work on a large HLF-funded project in Cromford Mills, Derbyshire, England. ‘Sir Richard Arkwright’s Cromford Mills’ is a visitor centre that provides information on the Derwent Valley (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), including a detailed history of the buildings, events and figures that make up its rich past.

Working with Tandem Design, Noho designed and developed all interactive touchscreen content and applications for the project. We also scripted and produced a 4-minute promotional film featuring a voiceover by the actor Brian Blessed (a Derbyshire native). The film explains why the valley, frozen in time since the Industrial Revolution, has become such an important location in industrial heritage.

Additionally, Noho created a detailed interactive map of the valley. This was displayed across five touchscreens positioned over a large physical model within the exhibition space. From these touchscreens, visitors access historical and logistical information on heritage areas and specific sites within the district.

Noho also produced the ‘The Arkwright Experience’, a large audio-visual experience located in an original 18th century mill in the Cromford complex. This exciting attraction utilizes a multi-projector / screen configuration to enable a ‘hologram’-like image of Sir Richard Arkwright to appear and ‘walk’ around his own mill while telling his life story to visitors. Noho researched, planned, scripted, directed and produced The Arkwright Experience including overseeing a green screen shoot and generating multiple complex and creative visual FX.

Cromford Mills is a unique and compelling visitor attraction that not only attracts visitors to the mills but also encourages them to explore the area further. Visitor feedback and reaction on sites such as TripAdvisor (where the Cromford Mills Gateway consistently receives positive reviews) demonstrate that it is a highly memorable experience for all.

Project team and partners
Noho, Tandem Design

In 2018 Noho were commissioned by the National Library of Ireland and Ralph Appelbaum and Associates to provide AV and interactive content for a new flagship exhibition on Seamus Heaney, titled Listen Now Again. The exhibition features a stunning collection of the poet’s manuscripts, notebooks, letters and diaries, tracing his career from first publication through to his Nobel Prize win and beyond. The flagship exhibition opened in July 2018 in the historic surroundings of the new Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre at College Green in central Dublin.

Noho produced several audiovisual pieces for Listen Now Again. ‘Elements of Writing’ is a large projection that dramatises Heaney’s creative writing process. To produce the piece, Noho animated a selection of Heaney’s handwritten and typescript drafts and created a series of striking animations of the poet’s inspirations – landscapes, objects and emotions. The result is an evocative and emotional portrayal of the artist at work.

A second piece, ‘Listen Now Again’ covers Heaney’s later years, his death and his enduring legacy. Noho devised the narrative treatment for this sensitive subject and developed a unique visual style that reflects the work and milestones of the poet’s later years. The result is a poignant, meditative and ultimately uplifting tribute to the poet and celebration of his work.

Noho also created an interactive touchscreen application devoted to the poet’s notebooks, diaries and typescript drafts. Each draft is accompanied by expert commentary, providing new insight into well-known poems and fascinating context for diary entries and lecture notes.

Noho designed a clean and intuitive interface and graphic style for the interactive, complementing the exhibition’s print and panel visuals. Working closely with the curator, Geraldine Higgins, we advised on the scope of content and the length of all sections, to maximise visitor engagement.

Listen Now Again opened in July 2018 and quickly became one of the most popular heritage attractions in the city.

Project team and partners
Noho, Ralph Appelbaum & Associates, National Library of Ireland

In 2016, Noho was appointed as digital media provider for CEMEC (Connecting Early Medieval European Collections) (https://cemec-eu.net), an EU-funded collaborative network of eight European museum collections and six technical partners. Part of this commission involved the production of educational and introductory movies for the project’s flagship exhibition, Crossroads, Europe 300-1000.

Drawing on objects from participating museum collections, Crossroads focuses on connectivity and cultural exchange in the Early Middle Ages (300 -1000) in Europe. It explores connections between different regional cultures in Europe and around the Mediterranean, from Ireland to Egypt and from Spain to Hungary and Greece.

Noho worked with the Allard Pierson Museum and Dutch exhibition designers, Platvorm, to develop the concept and content for the exhibition. It was agreed that it would focus on the lives and journeys of five historical figures (four humans and one elephant). Noho commissioned an illustrator and worked closely with him to create beautiful, evocative illustrations. We then created a series of animations for each figure and wrote short, dramatic biographies for each one. These illustrations and scripts were subsequently incorporated into the exhibition’s introductory film.

The final film was produced and screened in Dutch and English. It was later translated into German, for the opening of the exhibition in the LVR Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany, in October 2018.

Project team and partners
Noho, Platvorm, Allard Pierson Museum