The official start of the innovative 5Dculture project was November 2022. The first contact event, where the 5Dculture partners met together was a kick-off meeting.
The kick-off meeting held in Lindau (Germany) from 12 to 13 January 2023 brought together the very best of experts on cultural heritage, as the 5Dculture project cross-EU consortium consists of 12 partners, including some of the biggest and/or most innovative names in the field.
Arctur, the Tourism 4.0 and the Heritage+ programme initiator, joined forces with the very best. Europeana Foundation operates the all-important Europeana platform, European Fashion Heritage Association leads the largest fashion heritage network in the world, Connect Archaeology and Architecture in Europe brings together a myriad of stakeholders to advance professional practice of the digital archaeological and architectural heritage, Inception offers state-of-the-art 3D reconstruction systems, Fondazione Bruno Kessler ranks in Italy at the 1st place for scientific excellence within 3 different subject areas, University of Jaén hosts the renowned Anthropology, Geography & History and Historical Heritage departments, the Discovery Programme enhances the understanding of Ireland’s past through archaeological research, the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision manages one of the largest digitalized media archives in the world, Time Machine Organisation is creating a collective digital information system mapping the European evolution across times, while the famous Stichting Centraal Museum is the oldest municipal museum in the Netherlands. The consortium is led by IN2 Digital Innovations GmbH, a leading software development company experienced in research and development activities in the field of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
As the project’s title ‘5Dculture’ suggests, the project aims at enriching the European 3D digital cultural heritage by adding additional dimensions, i.e., fostering the 3D digital cultural heritage assets re-use in important domains such as education, tourism and the wider cultural and creative sectors.
Adding to the project’s importance is the fact that the 5Dculture project’s implementation in part supports the deployment of the common European data space for cultural heritage, as the 5D Culture project’s overall objectives of delivering high-quality 3D content from project partners’ collections focusing on topics of fashion, archaeology and architecture, developing concrete and innovative asset reuse scenarios, and deploying AI and machine-learning tools for future categorising and processing 3D assets, speak to the very essence of the Digital Europe Programme – the programme funding the both initiatives.
The 5Dculture project’s efforts are driven by the question of how, for instance, museums can engage and immerse their visitors deeper into fashion heritage with the help of 3D digital technologies. Or, how the visitors’ experience of archaeological monuments, heritage sites and cityscapes can be broadened with the support of 3D content and equally as much be of value for the virtual tourism, education, gaming, arts, conservation and heritage management sector. A series of digital technologies and tools (i. e., relevant AI and machine-learning tools) that will be deployed within the scope of the 5Dculture project will result in creating and promoting capacity building materials and activities to equip cultural heritage institutions with the necessary knowledge and skills for a wider re-use of 3D digital cultural heritage assets.
Arctur’s role in this prestigious consortium stems from having valuable high-tech experience, providing support to other partners’ pilot activites through the use of the WEAVE 3D Asset manager that had been developed by Arctur within the WEAVE project and demonstrating the use of 3D models for tourism promotion. At the event, Matevž Straus, Heritage+ Lead at Arctur, presented Arctur’s experience in 3D digital interpretation of cultural heritage and explored the options of connecting project activities with other Arctur’s engagement (e.g., DATES - Data Space for Tourism, BeyondSnow …).
The attendees all agreed on the 5D Culture project’s innovative potential and a concrete action plan is the result of this successful kick-off story. Stay tuned for next steps!
