Page 172 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

172the recreation of an Egyptian temple with a tour of each of its rooms. On arriving in the hypostyle hall, users must explore the space and decide which of the surrounding columns is the odd one out [online resource - video].228El primer rascacielos - Fundación TelefónicaAs part of the exhibition on The History of Telecommunications229 hosted by Espacio Fun- dación Telefónica230 (Madrid, 2017), an immersive experience was devised to show a virtual environment where visitors could trace the history of the company’s former headquarters. The installation, called “El primer rascacielos”231 (The rst skyscraper), was a journey through time for one of the landmark buildings of twentieth-century Spanish architecture. Visitors could discover what the Telefónica building on Madrid’s Gran Vía looked like in the early days and trace its history – which dates back to 1924, when Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España (CTNE) was established – through a recreation featuring actors and a 3D reconstruction of the di erent settings and phases.This experience combined all the virtual reality techniques: use of a 360-degree stereoscopic camera to lm the actors, real-time video game sequences, and interaction with the hands using the Leap Motion system.By using virtual reality headsets (Oculus Riftor GearVR), visitors could become the main characters in the story, as the linear storyline provided for interaction at certain points: they could activate the time machine, walk along the Gran Vía in the 1920s or look out of a zeppelin ying over Madrid, thus enjoying an even greater degree of immersion in this journey in time [online resource - video].232Charles III and the dissemination of AntiquityAn exceptional event – the archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae – prompted Charles III to undertake the taskof disseminating the antiquities found there, chie y at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, before departing for Spain in 1740. Draughtsmen and engravers were enlisted to document the Roman antiquities, though plaster casts were subsequently made of the bronze and marble sculptures and sent to the king from Naples.This special connection between the Naples originals and the plaster copies (which passed to the collection of the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) became even more complex when some of the plaster casts were sent to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes in Mexico.The existence of these three places linked by archaeological heritage inspired the exhibition Carlos III y la difusión de la Antigüedad233 (2017), which took place simultaneously at three ven- ues, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando234 (Madrid, Spain), the Museo Archeo- logico Nazionale di Napoli235 (Naples, Italy), and the Academia de San Carlos236 (Mexico) and was designed to show the importance of this feat, using digital technologies to focus on the role played by the enlightened king.The novel feature was that the virtual reality environment made it possible to visit all the locations where this story took place, from the amazing discovery to the plaster casts in their respective destinations, as well as the three exhibition venues.The virtual experience was designed at the initiative of Acción Cultural Española237 (AC/E) and Future Lighthouse.238 An immersive space was created at each venue where, with the aid of 4K 360-degree VR devices, visitors could go back in time to the moment of the discovery before visiting all three exhibition venues and personally2. DISSEMINATION, ENHANCEMENT AND EDUCATIONThe use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage