Mixed Reality Cultural Heritage Communication - The Zea Case

Cultural heritage institutions like the museums are challenged in the global experience society. On the one hand it is more important than ever to offer “authentic” and geographically rooted experiences at sites of historic glory and on the other hand the audience’s expectations are biased by daily use of experience products like computer-games, IMAX cinemas and theme parks featuring virtual reality installations. “It’s a question of stone-axe displays versus Disney-power installations” as one of the involved museum professionals point it, “but we don’t want any of these possibilities”. The poster presents an actual experience design case in Zea Harbour, Greece dealing with these challenges using mixed reality communicating cultural heritage material. Archaeological findings, physical reconstructions and digital models are mixed to effectively stage the interactive experience space. The Zea Case is a design scenario for the Museum of the Future showing how Cultural Heritage institutions can use a Glocal Approach to technology and architecture to reinvent the relation to the visitor and the neighbourhood. While Mixed Reality can be used for Cultural Heritage Communication in traditional exhibitions we have reached for the full potential of on-site deployment as a hybrid experience layer of the Stratified City.