PARTNERS
Aalto University has an underlying transdisciplinary approach to all its teaching and research activities. It will contribute with expertise in visual design, visual narratives, design thinking, design process, visualization, interactive media, and ethnography. AALTO’s future media centre (Aalto Studios) includes XR production facilities and infrastructure. MAGICS (the research arm of Aalto Studios) focuses on human virtualization, remote presence and quantifying and analysing human experience and interaction. Aalto will coordinate INT-ACT through the Aalto Visual Communication Design (AVCD) research group, active in several interdisciplinary research projects.
The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top universities. The Usher Institute, where most of the project research will be conducted, will provide the knowledge of signal processing and AI technology to enable automatic analysis of voice data for the assessment of user experience. EDIN will work closely with EVORA on natural language processing methods for structuring content and voice data, and linking them to the sites’ ontologies; with AALTO on narrative inquiry capturing experiences of intangible and tangible cultural heritage, thus contributing to the demonstrators, the case studies, and the implementation and exploitation actions.
The Information Technology for Market Leadership, a company situated in Athens, Greece, provides tailor-made software solutions based on a variety of technologies, such as big data analytics, advanced data mining, and machine-learning. ITML expertise is in UI/UX as an element is advancing user experience design, in user interface and user experience design, as well as communication and dissemination. Its services aim to be close to the customers and market needs, ultimately improving the user experience and access to technology. ITML participates as a communication and exploitation expert with a wide experience in networking and diffusion of information activities.
The University of Évora is situated in the Alentejo region in Portugal, where several megalithic sites are located. EVORA has a strong regional impact through research in cultural heritage. EVORA brings research expertise in information sciences, tourism, heritage and archaeology. Research will be carried out as part of the Interdisciplinary Center for History, Culture and Societies (CIDEHUS), which has extensive research experience in ontologies and semantic mapping. This work will involve defining the appropriate semantic models to integrate the knowledge acquired in the project and then be exploited in the demonstrators.
URBASOFIA is a Bucharest-based town and regional planning company providing European-wide expertise in urban development, policy design and territorial cohesion. The company conducts research and applied studies, and supports a more integrated, participatory, realistic and smart-oriented approach to pressing environmental and socio-economic urban problems. Through participatory approaches in the transposal, testing and scaling of smart and sustainable solutions in cities and urban contexts, URBASOFIA supports bridging the gap between innovative tools, local needs, and relevant global sustainability challenges. Its expertise includes stakeholder involvement and community uptake.
ARILYN is a XR and Metaverse technology and service company based in Helsinki, Finland. ARILYN has a strong focus on immersive spatial storytelling with vast experience in producing XR exhibitions for museums and cultural institutions. ARILYN is one of the technology and service partners for the Finnish Digital Museum, and has worked with museums and cultural heritage centres. It has also launched a Virtual Art Gallery SaaS service for individual artists. Sony, Columbia and Epic Labels, New York Film Festival and Fashion Institute of Technology in New York use ARILYN’s technology, thus it has a vast commercial experience in immersive XR environment design and content production.
KAVALA: The Municipality of Kavala, located in northern Greece, plays the role of the gateway to the trans-European axes for the Aegean Sea and the centre of international trade routes for the Balkans. The entire region has significant cultural heritage from prehistoric settlements to the first events of the Christian Church in Europe. The region is significant in terms of tangible cultural heritage and intangible remnants of a once multicultural society, conducting cultural, sporting and other mega-events. It provides the necessary links to all the stakeholders, including the local population and immigrant communities, as well as access to its museums and various other cultural heritage services.