1 LLP-LDV/TOI/07/IT/016

2 THE F-MU.S.EU.M. Project The European roots explored through the virtual reality Marco Merlini F-MU.S.EU.M. co-ordinator Sofia, National Archaeological Museum 24 September 2008

3 THE F-MU.SEU.M. MAIN FEATURES MUSEUMS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN CULTURE, TOURISM, EUROPEAN ROOTS IN BULGARIA AND BEYOND

4 Are Museums dead personae for the culture and economy of Europe? The Study published by the European Commission “The economy of culture in Europe” considers public Museums into the not-economic and not-profitable sector. A museum can generate employment and business only for what concern its real, physical existence, mainly when it restores the building. Against this restrictive vision, the F-MU.S.EU.M. project intends to experiment innovative synergies between cultural heritage and Internet-digital multimedia devices as to generate social-economic benefits able to trigger local economic development. Key aim is to create the “Virtual museum of European roots”, delivered on Internet and conceived as an e-service.

5 On-line virtual museums as means to promote cultural heritage Main factors of success of on-line virtual museums: Added value compared to their actual counterparts (i.e. physical museums) thanks to a strong attitude towards increased information and augmented culture Computer graphics and virtual reality enchantments Global dimension of potential audience Tourist attraction Development of high quality services online.

6 Sloping down from heaven of potentialities to actual museum web sites … In general, Information and Communication Technology finds application within the walls of museums only for inventories, cataloguing exhibitions, digital techniques, etc. Inadequacy of skills within museums in the field of Internet in general and virtual reality in particular. Web sites, if they exist, are static, boring… The more active museums request to an external expert, who is mainly unqualified and uninterested to cultural heritage Specular inadequacy of museum and external expert to collaborate Results of this loop: - high costs - expropriation of museum contents - pure replicas in HTML of actual collections - low added value in terms of additional information or increased culture compared to the original museum - web pages not updated

7 Lucas Faydherbe, Malines Reaction of “hurt” museums to the gust of Information and Communication Technology

8 F-M.U.S.EU.M. tries to “think different” F-MU.S.EU.M. stands for “Form - Multimedia System for a European Museum”. Main aim is to create an international learning community where museums are protagonists F-MU.S.EU.M. learning community develops capacity building within museums on the topic of Web exhibition and 3D virtual reality. F-MU.S.EU.M. method is learning by doing: learning how to deal with the Web and virtual reality while creating the “Virtual museum of European roots” from the collections of partner museums It is provided on the Web and developed without any expensive software nor muscular hardware F-MU.S.EU.M. Portal is at the address:

9 Homepage of the F-MU.S.EU.M. Portal The Home page provides access to the Virtual Museum as well as to the Project web site

10 The “Virtual museum of European roots” is a museum of museums Partner Museums of the Project: Bulgaria - Regional History Museum “Academician Jordan Ivanov”, Kyustendil; Italy - Musei Civici di Pitigliano (Museo Civico Archeologico della Civiltà Etrusca, Museo Archeologico all’aperto “A. Manzi”); Romania - Banat Museum, Timisoara. Project Beneficiary Museums : Bulgaria-The Regional Museum of History, Veliko Tarnovo Bulgaria- The Regional History Museum, Rousse Italy - The Fiora Valley Prehistory and Protohistory Museum, Manciano Italy - The F. R. Vonwiller Civic Museum, Farnese Romania - The Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu Romania - The Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilization, Deva

11 Italy - EURO INNOVANET, research institute, main contractor Italy - City of Rome Bulgaria - Cultura Animi Foundation Romania - Lucian Blaga University Sibiu- IPCTE Italy - TRUST – Tecnologie e Risorse Umane per Sviluppo e Trasferimento Cultural and technical partnership F-M.U.S.EU.M. partnership is also composed by partners providing cultural and technical support:

12 Athens - National Archaeological Museum Berlin - Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Bucharest - Muzeul National de istorie a Romaniei Budapest - Historical Museum Rome - Museo Nazionale Pigorini Sofia - National Museum of History Vienna - Natürhistorisches Museum - Prähistorische Abteilung F-MU.S.EU.M. European Network of museums Some of the most important European museums are part of our virtual museum:

13 F-MU.S.EU.M. delivers online free courses for three key professional profiles involved in the creation of a virtual museum. They are addressed to students interested to learn a new job and to employed people to supply higher professional skills. 1. E-courses F-M.U.S.EU.M. products the project manager the content expert (the archaeologist) the webmaster E-courses are available in 4 languages: English, Bulgarian, Italian, and Romanian A fourth courseware, for Communication Experts, is in preparation.

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15 If the use of new technologies for cultural heritage is opening new and broad professional horizons, there is burning need for young people to get a hold of ICT competences in order to build a virtual museum. A booklet is providing students with useful information for working in this fascinating field. This booklet is in English. In Spring 2009, our laboratories on Web and virtual reality hold by TRUST in Bulgarian museums will be open to students. 2. A booklet for guidance of students F-M.U.S.EU.M. products

16 It displays and explores in 3D prehistoric artefacts from partner museums. This exceptional collection indicates how the European identity was built over millennia and how Europe is founded upon a common ancient matrix, which had as a hub the Neolithic and Eneolithic of Southeastern Europe and is the fruit of the absence of rigid boundaries, continuous migrations, wide interactions, and a plurality of cultural imprints. Several millennia ago, this continuous mix was already a source of conflicts, compromises and stratifications between different populations and languages, divergent cultures and economies. But at the same time, it formed the basis of the present European originality: the cultural wealth and age depth of the "Old Continent". 3. Virtual museum of the European roots F-M.U.S.EU.M. products

17 Homepage of the Virtual museum of European roots

18 The historical focus of the “Virtual museum of the European roots” is the Neolithic and Eneolithic time- frame The geographical framework is Southern, Eastern and Central Europe, articulated around the Danube basin It disseminates to a wide audience the acknowledgment that a major civilisation spread in Neo-Eneolithic times from Southeastern Europe and that it created a common background - extending from Turkey to France, from Ukraine to Cyprus - which is partly still alive and goes beyond the current borders, political disputes and ethnic conflicts. Typical features of our virtual museum

19 The Virtual Museum is tailored for a wide public, aiming to narrate appealing stories for a non- specialist virtual audience, and to transform users into interpreters of the European history. It offers visitors the opportunity to surf on and across several different waves of information through interactivity, and in 7 languages (English as well as any other language of the participating countries). Users can explore the main issues related to Prehistoric Europe through thematic routes, inter- related with each other and linked to touristic-cultural itineraries. Typical features of our virtual museum

20 Menu of the Virtual museum of European roots

21 Chronological exploration

22 Geographical exploration

23 Object type exploration

24 From museum to museum surfing

25 Thematic routes

26 F-MU.S.EU.M. Thematic Routes TRADE, EXCHANGES RELIGIOUS PLACES CULTIC OBJECTS, TOOLS FURNITURE, PLACES SIGNS, COMMUNICATIONS THERMAL BATHS, SPRING WATERS, HEALING WATERS, VOTIVE WATER OFFERINGS FASHIONS (CLOTHES, JEWELRY, ARTS) WINE START-UP OF AGRICULTURE FIRST HOUSES MODELS METALLURGY THE HIDDEN ROOTS HOW To BUILD UP AN EXHIBITION

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28 The “Virtual museum of European roots” aspires to deliver new services that actual museums do not offer, in a place where visitors can learn, study, play and "live through" a wide range of experiences, conveying the acknowledgment that the “early civilisation” status can no longer limit itself to the regions which have long attracted scholarly attention (i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Levant and the ancient Indus valley), but it has to expand to embrace the Neolithic and Eneolithic of South-Eastern Europe and in particular the so called “Danube civilization” that flourished along the Danube and beyond. Many important European roots are in this museum. A multimedia via Internet

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