Immersive cultural experience through innovative multimedia applications: The History of Monserrate Palace in Sintra (Portugal) presented by Virtual Agents

Abstract

We are currently in the process of making a series of interconnected multimedia applications, in order to value and enliven the monuments of Sintra, Portugal - classified by Unesco as World Heritage site in 1995. This national project, Fala Comigo (Talk2Me), aspires to present new contents, not only to scholars but also to an unlimited number of visitors, and thus achieve a social, cultural, educational and civic mission. As an interdisciplinary project, the historians generate the content, while the engineers and technicians design content-driven multimedia applications. In this phase, our case study is the Monserrate Palace, a revivalist building of the 19th century. These applications profoundly rely on a balance between renewed heritage contents, a rigorous scientific approach and stunning designs. We encounter innovative multimodal ways of visitor-application interaction, mainly with the addition of virtual agents that works as guide assistants with educational purposes.