XR for Dispersed Heritage

XR for Dispersed Heritage at MANM Ancona

Overview & Core Objectives

Movable, immovable, and intangible cultural heritage are frequently presented in fragmented ways, separated by physical locations, modern borders, and institutional silos. Historical collections that spent centuries together are often split across different international museums. Scenario 3 explores how Extended Reality (XR)—specifically Mixed Reality (MR) delivered through Meta Quest 3 headsets—can virtually reunite geographically dispersed artifacts while keeping visitors fully grounded in their physical surroundings. Led by IN2 in collaboration with ICCD, the scenario tested the hypothesis that museum visitors prefer augmenting their physical environment over being isolated in a fully virtual world.

The Pilot Collection: Ancient Glass of Zadar

This scenario focused on an ancient Roman glassware collection originating from Zadar, Croatia. Transferred across the Adriatic Sea to the National Archaeological Museum in Ancona (MANM), Italy, after WWI under controversial circumstances, 23 of these pristine glass artifacts now reside in the museum's open storage drawers. While physically accessible to the public, they lacked historical narrative and context. High-fidelity Gaussian Splatting digitisation performed by UNIVPM brought these 3D objects into interactive digital spaces.

Point of view (screencasted from glasses) of user experience in mixed reality format

Key Technological Components

• Mixed Reality Headset Experience (Meta Quest 3): Allows visitors standing in the museum storage room to view digital 3D models of fragile glass objects floating right alongside the actual physical drawers, enabling users to zoom, rotate, and examine details that are impossible to see behind storage glass.
• "Graceful Degradation" Architecture: To bypass hardware limits and high staff overhead, the experience relies on a two-tier strategy. The "Full MR" guided experience uses headsets for event setups, while a "Simplified Mobile XR" version is accessible anytime on visitors' personal smartphones via QR codes placed on physical flyers.
• WEAVEx Digital Storytelling Platform: Powers the underlying narrative, recounting the Adriatic connections, Roman glassmaking techniques, and the interwar transfer of the collection.

Testing, Evaluation & Visitor Insights

Testing was conducted on-site at MANM Ancona over two days using dual guided stations. Over 80% of storage-room visitors chose to try the experience. Evaluation combined direct observation, discussions, and a structured feedback survey:

Flyer for feedback form and cabinet of the museum storage, containing the collection of glass objects from Zadar

• Visitor Satisfaction: 19 out of 23 survey respondents rated their experience a perfect 5/5, with 73.9% describing it as highly astonishing and delightful.
• Physical Grounding vs. VR: Visitors overwhelmingly appreciated that MR enhanced their physical museum walk rather than distracting them from it.
• Signage Replacement: 69.6% found the digital narrative format much better and more engaging than traditional text panels.

Interactive 3D object side by side with the actual object during the MR experience

Wider Cultural & Strategic Impact

• Activating "Hidden" Reserves: Demonstrates how museums can exponentially increase their exhibition capacity without expanding physical floor space by turning closed storage drawers into primary, interactive visitor destinations.
• Digital Repatriation & Diplomacy: Offers a non-contentious, collaborative pathway for international institutions to reunite controversial or dispersed collections virtually without needing physical repatriation.
• Incentivizing Repeat Visits: 91.3% of surveyed visitors indicated they were likely or very likely to return to the museum specifically for similar digital interactive exhibits.

Visual flyer with QR code inviting physical visitors to access the simplified XR experience

Museum visitors using the full experience with XR glasses