CultAR was meant to create a novel and engaging cultural experience by leveraging on advanced virtual and augmented realities. In particular, the project pursued two specific objectives, including (i) increasing users’ awareness of the cultural landmarks in their surroundings, and (ii) increasing users’ social engagement with culture. The integration of mobile 3D, augmented realities and tactile technologies allowed to create a completely new multimodal mobile interface. The CultAR system enables the user to explore the physical world with an interactive tactile glove that would guide them to point towards a relevant Point Of Interest (POI) by using gentle vibrations delivered on the fingertips.

The user can then access additional information by either playing and audio description or by exploring the Virtual and Augmented Reality related contents. Several tests conducted in the field combining qualitative and quantitative data collection tools proved that this innovative system is well-received by users and allows them to walk around the city and explore it without the traditional mediation of printed or digital guides, providing them with a personalized experience.

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