Page 156 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

156It should be stressed in connection with portable devices that, unlike other cultural spaces such as museums, archaeological heritage or monumental heritage refer to spaces that are not always con- trolled, and this has a decisive in uence on which technologies can be used to disseminate and enhance the value of these monuments. Portable devices equipped with geolocation systems and wireless connections have thus enhanced in situ digital experiences with heritage, making it possi- ble to forge a closer relationship with the public in which the emphasis is on the cultural object.2.2.1 Virtual recreationsCultural heritage is one of the most important areas of application of virtual reality and the so-called virtual techniques. This increasingly promising technology has been around since the 1960s, though its popularity has been growing rapidly since 1990. Technology and techniques have improved to the extent that digital graphics are more realistic, while technological advances have perfected their application and interactivity in real time, helping improve user experience.Virtual reality thus makes it possible to repro- duce a site or object using 3D virtual elements and software technology, the main characteristic of such reproductions being that they are very lifelike. Some of the applications of this tech- nology in the heritage eld involve simulations– representing real sites that once existed but no longer survive.Although the virtual can never take the place of the real, it does ful l the function of informing us reliably and in detail about cultural heritage, just as the real element gives shape to the virtual element. This is why virtual technologies have a signi cant component of learning and training, and are becoming very useful techniques in the cultural heritage eld for representing, showing and explaining explain historic and architectural objects, including the setting and landscape,to the public at large. The latter fact is of greatimportance, as it makes it possible to situate her- itage objects in their original historical context, which in most cases has been greatly modi ed by the passage of time.We have pointed out that digitising heritage is one of the key factors in heritage dissemination. However, we should not forget that virtual recreations are another essential element for interpreting heritage. Indeed, thanks to the improved performance of devices and more advanced software, in recent years they have succeeded in lending movement to 3D objects and their environment.Audiovisual presentations on screens or CAVE- type (Cave Assisted Virtual Environment) immer- sive rooms enable us to embark on a genuine journey through time that leads us to admire a previous state through an innovative and di er- ent vision of our heritage.Ullastret 3DThe Iberian site of Puig de Sant Andreu de Ullastret (Baix Empordà) was the object of the Ullastret 3D147 project in which a 3D audiovisual148 experience in an immersive screening room showed a virtual reconstruction of the Iberian city.The initiative was devised as part of the Pat- rimoni en Acció programme to encourage the social use and knowledge of Catalan cultural heritage, which stemmed from the collaboration between the department of culture of the Catalan regional government and the foundation for social projects of the bank la Caixa.This audiovisual experience recreated the Iberian city at its height of splendour during the fourth to the third centuries BC. During this period Ullastret was an important urban, administrative and economic centre of the Catalan Iberian world; the fact that it is the settlement best documented by the archaeological excavations undertaken enabled a more accurate reconstruc- tion of the site to be made.2. DISSEMINATION, ENHANCEMENT AND EDUCATIONThe use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage