Page 160 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

160views showing the new virtual reconstructions163 of the medieval abbey of Ename over eight time periods, together with a detailed simulation of the historic landscape.Cuarto Real de Santo DomingoOpened in 2015 following rehabilitation work, the Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo (Granada) was the site chosen to install an interactive totem pole incorporating various resources for interpreting this palatial complex and its gardens. The complex was built by the Almohad mon- archs and is an important example of residential architecture of thirteenth-century Granada. The installation designed by IdeosMedia,164 a Spanish company specialised in technological resources centred on interpreting cultural heritage, consists of a touchscreen that enables users to interact with various digital resources through amenu. An additional screen is used to view the content being shown on the touchscreen for visitors who are not interacting. This multimedia application165 makes it possible to obtain further information on the monument in question. One of its most important elements – owing to its educational value – is a digital reconstruction of the palace complex containing several hotspots with 360-degree views of the rooms with the appearance they would have had in the thir- teenth century according to the archaeological and art-historical studies carried out. Another option shows the decorative panels of tiles and plasterwork in gigapixel photographs whose resolution allows every motif to be examined in detail. An audiovisual installation on the qubba, the most important part of the complex, anda cultural agenda featuring all the activities of interest staged at the site complete the infor- mation provided by the interactive totem, which is an essential interpretive resource for visitors wishing to learn more during their visit.Mayan city of CalakmulThe Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Su- periores de Monterrey (Mexico) presented an interactive kiosk o ering virtual recreations of the ancient Mayan city of Calakmul (800 BC to 900 BC), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is located in a nature reserve in the state of Campeche and is partially covered by the forest. As a result the remains of the buildings are almost concealed and it is di cult for visitors to understand and grasp the magnitude of the site (Ruiz, 2015166). The kiosk presented three import- ant aspects of the culture and a recreation of the interior of the tombs of the dignitaries interred inside the pyramids, including a reconstruction of the o erings left there; a reproduction ofthe frieze of the tallest pyramid of Calakmul, enabling an iconographic analysis to be carried out on its di erent elements separately; andan interpretation of the Mayan world view in relation to death and the afterlife by comparing archaeological pieces and graphic elements from various Mayan sites.Figure 13 – Visitors consulting the interactive totem at the Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo (Granada). Author’s photograph2. DISSEMINATION, ENHANCEMENT AND EDUCATION