Page 128 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Urška Starc Peceny, Tomi Ilijaš Matevž Straus Digital Innovation of Cultural Heritage

to share experiences and reflections on the outcomes. Sevnica Castle, Mokrice Castle, and the castle ruins of
Our team has been the main contractor or sub-con- Svibno and Kunšperk.
tractor in 13 destinations and has participated in pro- To increase the visibility of Posavje Castles and its
ject design and implementation. We have entered the offer and to link the destination brand with the cas-
projects with several internal guidelines and convic- tle-themed offer, it was decided to address visitors in
tions we aimed to follow: person and at the destination. The selected location

• Projects must respect and contribute to cultural was Terme Čatež, with the most visitors and overnight
heritage interpretation, not abuse it for promo- stays within the destination. An interpretation room
tion. We must advocate collaboration with herit- in Terme Čatež, called the Digital Room of e-Posav-
age institutions and support the client in this col- je Castles, was established at 20 m2, next to the main
laboration. strolling path. The digital room has the latest techno-
• We aim to create complex interdisciplinary pro- logical equipment: holograms, VR glasses, LCD screens
jects that cross sectoral boundaries. We shall in- and smart tablets, and presents the castles attractively
volve the creative sector. through 3D models, 3D reconstructions, 360° videos,
• We use technology to convey the message, not for videos with 3D models and an interactive web app.
its own sake. Sometimes, a simple technology can The Magnificient Seven: www.egradovi-posavja.si.
be more efficient than an advanced solution. The Digital Room opened on 5 July 2021 and has
• We aim to submit to technical standards for digital attracted over 3,450 visitors in half a year. The local
capture. tourism office manages the room, training the staff
• The end goal is heritage tourism products, not sole- on handling the technology and providing addition-
ly tourism promotion or heritage documentation. al tourist information to the visitors. Entrance to the
Digital Room is free of charge and mainly attracts
Overall, the results show great creativity, inven- families with young children, predominantly from
tiveness, and variety. Like the results, the processes Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Austria, and the Neth-
behind them also vary, depending on clients’ tech- erlands.
nical knowledge, local stakeholders’ interest and in- The main challenges in the development process
volvement, and the complexity of the idea. were posed by the weather (cold winter with regular
The projects address a wide range of cultural her- snowing postponing 3D digital capture, late spring
itage: from pre-Roman and Roman to medieval and postponing 360-degree video filming), short time
modern, from housing to industrial, from large-scale
to small-scale, and from multi-location to one-loca- frame (8 months for the whole project from start to
tion … Although some initially feared that all the pro- launch), and many stakeholders with decision-mak-
jects would focus on similar objects and stories (cas- ing powers. The development processes involved
tles and knights), the diversity of topics is immense. various stakeholders, both from the public (various
museums, development agencies, municipalities) and

Example: The Castles of Posavje private (Terme Čatež spa resort), and the implemen-
For example, the Regional Development Agency tation team (storytellers and copywriters, 3D digital
Posavje project aimed to digitalise the cultural her- capture experts, filmmakers, hardware developers, in-
itage of the Castles of Posavje and position Čatež & terior designers, 3D animators and artists, sound art-
Posavje in the national and international space as a ists…) which required much coordination in a very
unique tourist destination. The castles subject to dig- condensed time frame.
italisation are Rajhenburg Castle, Brežice Castle, the See trailer (in Slovenian): https://youtu.be/KNC
former Cistercian monastery Kostanjevica na Krki, -Ohlmt3U

124 | Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference