Digital Cultural Heritage

This chapter aims to give information about how the digitalization process is using technologies suitable for today's conditions in the transmission of cultural heritage to future generations and its preservation, what methods are being employed, the concept of digital heritage, the developments that took place and the projects that were carried out in the digitization of cultural heritage. In addition, it is also aimed in this chapter to evaluate the cultural heritage sites within the framework of this new understanding and to examine how these areas can be redefined with new technical possibilities. At this point, after reviewing the literature about the cultural and digital heritage, the importance of cultural heritage is referred to in detail. Finally, a case study is conducted by the authors via compiling the V-must.net website established to develop virtual museums, blog comments, and academic studies carried out in respect to this project.

Digital topics on cultural heritage investigated: how can data-driven and data-guided methods support to identify current topics and trends in digital heritage?

In research and policies, the identification of trends as well as emerging topics and topics in decline is an important source of information for both academic and innovation management. Since at present policy analysis mostly employs qualitative research methods, the following article presents and assesses different approaches – trend analysis based on questionnaires, quantitative bibliometric surveys, the use of computer-linguistic approaches and machine learning and qualitative investigations. Against this backdrop, this article examines digital applications in cultural heritage and, in particular, built heritage via various investigative frameworks to identify topics of relevance and trendlines, mainly for European Union (EU)-based research and policies. Furthermore, this article exemplifies and assesses the specific opportunities and limitations of the different methodical approaches against the backdrop of data-driven vs. data-guided analytical frameworks. As its major findings, our study shows that both research and policies related to digital applications for cultural heritage are mainly driven by the availability of new technologies. Since policies focus on meta-topics such as digitisation, openness or automation, the research descriptors are more granular. In general, data-driven approaches are promising for identifying topics and trendlines and even predicting the development of near future trends. Conversely, qualitative approaches are able to answer “why” questions with regard to whether topics are emerging due to disruptive innovations or due to new terminologies or whether topics are becoming obsolete because they are common knowledge, as is the case for the term “internet”.

Decoding Kashgar: A Digital Design Approach to Steer and Diversify Creative Engagement in Digital Heritage

<p>Digital tools have become critical instruments in preserving and communicating the value of heritage as important cultural expressions of the past. A consequence of digitalisation is the democratisation of heritage institutions, such as museums, which are found to value increasingly new types of content and new profiles of audiences. Digitisation plays a vital role in the alteration of the convictions of the heritage field to ‘materiality’ and ‘actuality.’ Although researchers acknowledge the significance of digital heritage in leading us into new ways of expressing ‘authenticity’ and ‘virtuality,’ studies have been confined to heritage activities comprised of digital documentation, representation and dissemination. Previous studies have reported on the role of public engagement in digital heritage which is criticised as consumptive, passive, guided and descriptive. Instead, the motivation of this research is to explore a new role that is ‘generative,’ ‘active’ and ‘creative’ for the production of heritage knowledge. This dissertation demonstrates an innovative digital design approach to creative and participatory content-making in digital heritage. The research investigated the use of creative content generated collaboratively for knowledge production and acquisition in architectural heritage and tested in Kashgar, the westernmost city in China. The research conceives an interdisciplinary methodology, integrating design with the standard activities involved in digital heritage. This dissertation is undertaken using different digital media equipment for collaboratively expressing authenticity and virtuality of heritage information. The research examines the role of creative engagement for constructing digital heritage. Creative engagement in a hybrid immersive virtual reality environment is experimented with and findings are analysed qualitatively. Then, to measure the outcome of creative engagement quantitatively, a well-known technique in data mining is used to expose undisclosed patterns. It is the first time in digital heritage that a study employs association rule mining to interpret user-generated content. The qualitative findings of two initial experiments are synthesised with quantitative results of the third experiment to investigate how the creative contribution of people in content-making is generalizable. The investigations foster the advancement of research and practice in digital heritage beyond the frontiers of current knowledge. There is a number of fields that can apply the results of this research, including cultural heritage, computer-aided architectural design, museology, new media, TV, education, MOOC, streaming, as well as culture and game studies.</p>

Decoding Kashgar: A Digital Design Approach to Steer and Diversify Creative Engagement in Digital Heritage

<p>Digital tools have become critical instruments in preserving and communicating the value of heritage as important cultural expressions of the past. A consequence of digitalisation is the democratisation of heritage institutions, such as museums, which are found to value increasingly new types of content and new profiles of audiences. Digitisation plays a vital role in the alteration of the convictions of the heritage field to ‘materiality’ and ‘actuality.’ Although researchers acknowledge the significance of digital heritage in leading us into new ways of expressing ‘authenticity’ and ‘virtuality,’ studies have been confined to heritage activities comprised of digital documentation, representation and dissemination. Previous studies have reported on the role of public engagement in digital heritage which is criticised as consumptive, passive, guided and descriptive. Instead, the motivation of this research is to explore a new role that is ‘generative,’ ‘active’ and ‘creative’ for the production of heritage knowledge. This dissertation demonstrates an innovative digital design approach to creative and participatory content-making in digital heritage. The research investigated the use of creative content generated collaboratively for knowledge production and acquisition in architectural heritage and tested in Kashgar, the westernmost city in China. The research conceives an interdisciplinary methodology, integrating design with the standard activities involved in digital heritage. This dissertation is undertaken using different digital media equipment for collaboratively expressing authenticity and virtuality of heritage information. The research examines the role of creative engagement for constructing digital heritage. Creative engagement in a hybrid immersive virtual reality environment is experimented with and findings are analysed qualitatively. Then, to measure the outcome of creative engagement quantitatively, a well-known technique in data mining is used to expose undisclosed patterns. It is the first time in digital heritage that a study employs association rule mining to interpret user-generated content. The qualitative findings of two initial experiments are synthesised with quantitative results of the third experiment to investigate how the creative contribution of people in content-making is generalizable. The investigations foster the advancement of research and practice in digital heritage beyond the frontiers of current knowledge. There is a number of fields that can apply the results of this research, including cultural heritage, computer-aided architectural design, museology, new media, TV, education, MOOC, streaming, as well as culture and game studies.</p>

Digital Heritage and Public Engagement: reflections on the challenges of co-production

In recent years, UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and funding bodies have been increasingly championing the merits of co-production between academic researchers and non-HEIs, including community groups. However, these undertakings are often more complex than we are led to believe and the issues encountered are frequently downplayed in published outputs. In this article we review a selection of recent projects in which digital technologies have been used in heritage-led public engagement, including two of our own related projects at Park Hill flats in Sheffield. Digital technologies are the latest means by which HEIs are seeking to engage with the public, but it is becoming clear that there are significant impediments to undertaking this successfully. These include the short-term nature of the funding, the difficulties of maintaining digital outputs over time, and managing community expectation of what can be achieved in the time, and with the funding, available, alongside variable levels of familiarity with, and interest in, digital platforms by the public. Funding schemes often prioritise new consultation activities, and co-production with communities, over making use of archival community engagement materials. We suggest that academic engagement with the public needs to be sensitive to these issues, and to recognise that valuable digital heritage projects can emerge from diverse approaches to co-production.

The Ruins of Eloquence

<p>On the 22nd of February, 2011 the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was crippled by a colossal earthquake. 185 people were killed, thousands injured and what remained was a city left in destruction and ruin. Thousands of Christchurch properties and buildings were left damaged beyond repair and the rich historical architecture of the Canterbury region had suffered irreparably. This research will conduct an investigation into whether the use of mixed reality can aid in liberating Christchurch’s rich architectural heritage when applied to the context of destructed buildings within Christchurch. The aim of this thesis is to formulate a narrative around the embodiment of mixed reality when subjected to the fragmentary historical architecture of Christchurch. Mixed reality will aspire to act as the defining ligature that holds the past, present and future of Christchurch’s architectural heritage intact as if it is all part of the same continuum. This thesis will focus on the design of a memorial museum within a heavily damaged historical trust registered building due to the Christchurch earthquake. It is important and relevant to conceive the idea of such a design as history is what makes everything we know. The memories of the past, the being of the now and the projection of the future is the basis and fundamental imperative in honouring the city and people of Christchurch. Using the technologies of Mixed Reality and the realm of its counter parts the memorial museum will be a definitive proposition of desire in providing a psychological and physical understanding towards a better Christchurch, for the people of Christchurch. This thesis serves to explore the renovation possibilities of the Canterbury provincial council building in its destructed state to produce a memorial museum for the Christchurch earthquake. The design seeks to mummify the building in its raw state that sets and develops the narrative through the spaces. The design intervention is kept at a required minimum and in doing so manifests a concentrated eloquence to the derelict space. The interior architecture unlocks the expression of history and time encompassed within a destructive and industrialised architectural dialogue. History is the inhabitant of the building, and using the physical and virtual worlds it can be set free. This thesis informs a design for a museum in central Christchurch that celebrates and informs the public on past, present and future heritage aspects of Christchurch city. Using mixed reality technologies the spatial layout inside will be a direct effect of the mixed reality used and the exploration of the physical and digital heritage aspects of Christchurch. The use of technology in today’s world is so prevalent that incorporating it into a memorial museum for Christchurch would not only be interesting and exploratory but also offer a sense of pushing forward and striving beyond for a newer, fresher Christchurch. The memorial museum will showcase a range of different exhibitions that formulate around the devastating Christchurch earthquake. Using mixed reality technologies these exhibitions will dictate the spaces inside dependant on their various applications of mixed reality as a technology for architecture. Research will include; what the people of Canterbury are most dear to in regards to Christchurch’s historical environment; the use of mixed reality to visualise digital heritage, and the combination of the physical and digital to serve as an architectural mediation between what was, what is and what there could be.</p>

The Ruins of Eloquence

<p>On the 22nd of February, 2011 the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was crippled by a colossal earthquake. 185 people were killed, thousands injured and what remained was a city left in destruction and ruin. Thousands of Christchurch properties and buildings were left damaged beyond repair and the rich historical architecture of the Canterbury region had suffered irreparably. This research will conduct an investigation into whether the use of mixed reality can aid in liberating Christchurch’s rich architectural heritage when applied to the context of destructed buildings within Christchurch. The aim of this thesis is to formulate a narrative around the embodiment of mixed reality when subjected to the fragmentary historical architecture of Christchurch. Mixed reality will aspire to act as the defining ligature that holds the past, present and future of Christchurch’s architectural heritage intact as if it is all part of the same continuum. This thesis will focus on the design of a memorial museum within a heavily damaged historical trust registered building due to the Christchurch earthquake. It is important and relevant to conceive the idea of such a design as history is what makes everything we know. The memories of the past, the being of the now and the projection of the future is the basis and fundamental imperative in honouring the city and people of Christchurch. Using the technologies of Mixed Reality and the realm of its counter parts the memorial museum will be a definitive proposition of desire in providing a psychological and physical understanding towards a better Christchurch, for the people of Christchurch. This thesis serves to explore the renovation possibilities of the Canterbury provincial council building in its destructed state to produce a memorial museum for the Christchurch earthquake. The design seeks to mummify the building in its raw state that sets and develops the narrative through the spaces. The design intervention is kept at a required minimum and in doing so manifests a concentrated eloquence to the derelict space. The interior architecture unlocks the expression of history and time encompassed within a destructive and industrialised architectural dialogue. History is the inhabitant of the building, and using the physical and virtual worlds it can be set free. This thesis informs a design for a museum in central Christchurch that celebrates and informs the public on past, present and future heritage aspects of Christchurch city. Using mixed reality technologies the spatial layout inside will be a direct effect of the mixed reality used and the exploration of the physical and digital heritage aspects of Christchurch. The use of technology in today’s world is so prevalent that incorporating it into a memorial museum for Christchurch would not only be interesting and exploratory but also offer a sense of pushing forward and striving beyond for a newer, fresher Christchurch. The memorial museum will showcase a range of different exhibitions that formulate around the devastating Christchurch earthquake. Using mixed reality technologies these exhibitions will dictate the spaces inside dependant on their various applications of mixed reality as a technology for architecture. Research will include; what the people of Canterbury are most dear to in regards to Christchurch’s historical environment; the use of mixed reality to visualise digital heritage, and the combination of the physical and digital to serve as an architectural mediation between what was, what is and what there could be.</p>

Approaches to 'place': A study exploring how New Zealand's digital collections conceptualise our social understanding of space

<p>Research problem: The concept of ‘place’ has a clear presence in New Zealand’s digital heritage collections. However, some theorists suggest there is gap between place as a concept relevant to cultural heritage concerns and place as represented by digital technology. This research explores how geospatial and digital technology deployed in New Zealand’s digital collections engage with and conceptualise qualities usually associated with place: social bonds, emotional attachment and subjectivity. Methodology: This two-stage, mixed-methods study has a qualitative weighting. Web Content analysis (WebCA) gathered data from digital collections that demonstrate place inclusive features. An anonymous survey gathered opinions from practitioners who create place-inclusive digital collections. Descriptive statistics developed during quantitative analysis triangulated findings developed during thematic qualitative analysis. Results: New Zealand’s digital collections generate a sense-of-place using strategies that mimic subjective and experience-based understanding of the world. Some collections also engage with place in its ‘common-sense wrapper’ by using the deploying the place in a metadata context or as an overarching thematic structure. New Zealand’s cultural heritage practitioners are very practice-oriented in their consideration of place, and place-inclusive collections are most often impacted by resourcing issues. Implications: This project contributes to the growing ‘body of sustained critical thinking’ focusing on the implications of digital technology for cultural heritage concerns. It suggests place has considerable value and multiple functions within digital heritage collections. When conducting projects using geospatial technology, heritage practitioners can consider supplementing geospatial technology with user-contribution features, content variety, and an emphasis on storytelling to effectively reflect the subjective components of place.</p>