"Echoes": Reconstructing the past with cutting-edge technologies.

In the proposed announcement we present the main idea of the research project "Echoes", in which we develop a set of digital tools and methodologies for the creation and presentation of interactive content to visitors of cultural spaces, with an emphasis on traditional settlements. For the purposes of the project we adopt the innovative approach of reconstructing experience through cutting edge technologies such as 3D sound. In our approach, the reconstruction of the experience is based on historical sources that describe the life and important events of the traditional settlement in the past. Historical evidence is further exploited to develop a story with characters, plot and events, which is realistically set in the real world. The visitor will experience the world of the story through a digital mobile application, the content of which includes a set of technologies and multimedia materials, which create the feeling that the world of the story originates from the space surrounding the visitor and not from the mobile phone. The methodology of experience reconstruction and related technological tools will be used as a pilot to create two integrated interactive experiences for the visitors of two important traditional settlements: the Old Town of Xanthi and the Historical Center of Athens. The development of these experiences will be a guide for the development of technological tools, as well as good practices for the more general methodology of experience reconstruction. The aim is to create general tools and methodologies capable of supporting corresponding experiences in places of cultural and historical importance.