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Phygital Heritage: an Approach for Heritage Communication

Research Authors
Eslam Nofal, Rabee M. Reffat, Andrew Vande Moere
Research Member
Research Year
2017
Research Journal
The Third Immersive Learning Research Network Conference
Research Publisher
Verlag der Technischen Universität Graz
Research Vol
NULL
Research Rank
3
Research_Pages
220-229
Research Website
https://doi.org/10.3217/978-3-85125-530-0-36
Research Abstract

Physical heritage objects and assets are related to a vast amount of digital information of different kinds, which are challenging to be communicated to visitors in understandable and engaging ways. Yet recent technological advances promise new opportunities to more tightly merge the digital with the physical world. This paper therefore introduces the concept of “phygital heritage”, the integration of digital technology ‘into’ physical reality, as a potential medium for more enriched and playful communication of heritage values and qualities. We propose that phygital heritage should enable the exploitation of typical advantages of both digital and physical reality, and that distinct categories of phygital can be recognized based on: 1) the level of physical affordance; and 2) in how far the technology is integrated into the physical reality. The paper also opens the discussion about the potential challenges and concerns which future explorations, scientific research and real-world applications of phygital heritage probably will encounter.