Bridging Nature and Culture: A New Approach to Heritage Engagement

Bridging Nature and Culture: A New Approach to Heritage Engagement

A new LoGaCulture study is reshaping how visitors interact with heritage sites, blending digital innovation with sensory experiences to foster deeper connections with nature and culture. The research — published as a pictorial in the Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ’25) titled Natureculture Probes: Opening up dialogues in…

LoGaCulture researchers master naturecultures at TEI’25

LoGaCulture researchers master naturecultures at TEI’25

Five LoGaCulture researchers presented their work at ACM 2025 International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI’25), taking place in Bordeaux, France, 04-07 March 2025. Straddling two sessions — Elemental & Biomaterial and Spirituality, Nature, and Place — PhD students Anna Bertmark, Mathilde Gouin, postdoctoral researchers Marta Ferreira and Pedro Galvão-Ferreira, and principal investigator…

Exploring Posthumanist Care in Heritage Conservation: How Digital Games Could Foster Empathy for Nature

Exploring Posthumanist Care in Heritage Conservation: How Digital Games Could Foster Empathy for Nature

At the 2024 Academic Mindtrek Conference, LoGaCulture researchers presented a novel study exploring how digital technology — particularly locative games (LGs) — can transform our engagement with cultural and natural heritage sites. Their paper, Posthumanist Care and Ecologies of Empathy: Investigating Design Potentials for Nature:Culture HCI, examines how interactive experiences might foster a deeper sense of…

Are Mixed Reality Games Changing How We Think About Ethics?

Are Mixed Reality Games Changing How We Think About Ethics?

Mixed Reality (MR) games, blending physical spaces with digital content, have transformed how we experience places and interact with technology. From the global phenomenon of Pokémon Go! to immersive heritage tours, these games offer a unique fusion of storytelling, exploration, and play. But as they reshape our world, they also raise urgent ethical questions. The Ethics of…

LoGaCulture 4th General Assembly: October 2024

LoGaCulture 4th General Assembly: October 2024

This week, on 21 October 2024, the LoGaCulture project hosted its 4th General assembly (GA), chaired by Valentina Nisi (Interactive Technologies Institute, Instituto Superior Técnico) and David Millard (University of Southampton). Taking place biannually, once live and another online, the LoGaCulture GAs mark key milestones for the LoGaCulture project, offering the international team a vital…

Locative games for natural and cultural heritage at Academic Mindtrek 24

Locative games for natural and cultural heritage at Academic Mindtrek 24

This week, LoGaCulture is present at the Academic Mindtrek 2024 conference in Tampere, Finland. Researcher Pedro Galvão-Ferreira presented the research paper Posthumanist Care and Ecologies of Empathy: Investigating Design Potentials for Nature:Culture HCI, which investigates how locative games (LGs) can enhance engagement with the natural and cultural heritage of the UNESCO-protected Levada walks on Madeira Island. As the study explores the nature-culture continuum,…

Are augmented reality-powered museums the future?

Are augmented reality-powered museums the future?

What new possibilities can immersive augmented reality (AR) technology offer to enhancing educational experiences in museums? A study conducted by LoGaCulture partners Ulrike Spierling, Jessica Bitter and Yu Liu (Hochschule RheinMain) and Thorolf Müller (Senckenberg Natural History Museum) asked exactly that question. As 109 museum visitors tested a prototype application for Microsoft HoloLens 2, showcasing…

LoGaCulture researchers at the ACM Hypertext 2024 Conference

LoGaCulture researchers at the ACM Hypertext 2024 Conference

Three LoGaCulture researchers have presented their work this week at the ACM Narrative and Hypertext 2024 Conference (NHT’24). As part of the longest running workshop series at NHT (running since 2011), LoGaCulture Principal Investigators Charlie Hargood and David Millard organised this year’s session on the theme “The Ethics of Mixed Reality Narrative Hypertext.” This workshop,…

LoGaCulture researchers meet at the Natural History Museum of Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal

LoGaCulture researchers meet at the Natural History Museum of Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal

LoGaCulture researchers from the Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI, Portugal) and Hochschule RheinMain (HRM, Germany) convened this week in Madeira Island, hosted by the Natural History Museum of Funchal (NHMF). This three-day meeting, which included the Museum director, Dr. Ricardo Arrujo, and Curator, Dr. Carolina Ornelas, brought together interdisciplinary work on cultural heritage and interactive technologies,…

What is transmedia storytelling?

What is transmedia storytelling?

Transmedia storytelling is a narrative technique in which a single story, or story experience, is told across multiple platforms and formats — from books, films and television, to comics, video games, social media and more. The goal is that each medium contributes uniquely to the story, offering a distinct and complementary perspective that enriches the…

Embracing digital heritage: two outreach workshops

Embracing digital heritage: two outreach workshops

Today, the Natural History Museum and the Cultural & Research Centre of Funchal buzzed with excitement as we hosted two enriching outreach workshops, engaging the general public with the entire breadth of the LoGaCulture project. These event were a fantastic opportunity to bring together local stakeholders and community members, showcasing the project’s innovative digital initiatives…

Telling stories between realities

Telling stories between realities

In an era when mixed reality (MR) technology is rapidly evolving, how should creators craft immersive and compelling stories? MR merges the real and virtual worlds, creating immersive experiences that captivate audiences. To harness the full potential of MR, however, there is an urgent need for sophisticated tools that allow creators to design these compelling…