Two innovative augmented reality (AR) experiences we recently piloted at the Funchal Natural History Museum, merging cutting-edge technologies with cultural heritage to explore new ways of engaging the public in natural and historical narratives. Developed by researchers Yu Liu and Noura Kräuter within Professor Ulrike Spierling’s team at Hochschule RheinMain (Germany), the interventions tested creative uses of AR in museum settings, in line with the goals of the LoGaCulture project.
Reviving History through Embodied Performance
Noura Kräuter’s pilot brought 17th-century naturalist and illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian to life through a volumetric capture performance situated in the museum garden. By placing a historically inspired character into the physical environment of the museum, her work investigates how the embodied realism of volumetric filmed performances can influence users’ perceptions and behaviors in interactive cultural heritage narratives.
Visitors were invited to engage with Sibylla Merian as she reflected on her botanical discoveries, creating a layered temporal and spatial dialogue between past and present. Kräuter’s work opens up questions about how interactive storytelling and character-driven design can deepen empathy and connection in heritage experiences.
Further details on Noura Kräuter’s pilot can be found in this publication.
Augmented Reality Journeys into Marine Ecology
Yu Liu’s pilot explored the potential of Microsoft HoloLens 2 for natural science museums, designing AR mechanics to enhance visitor immersion, engagement, and learning. His intervention connected visitors with an AR avatar of a taxidermy seal exhibited at the museum, extending this interaction into a simulated underwater journey that revealed the seal’s ecological context.
In doing so, Liu not only experimented with new forms of museum engagement, but also contributed to the development of an interaction design pattern language for AR applications in cultural settings.
Further details on Yu Liu’s pilot can be found in this publication.
Both interventions demonstrate how extended reality technologies can be harnessed to activate cultural heritage in meaningful, embodied ways. By blending historical reflection with scientific storytelling, the pilots offer a glimpse into the future of more-than-human and more-than-digital encounters in public spaces of learning.