Ecsite is looking for three members to digitize their collections & test immersive technologies with their visitors.

We’re participating in a proposal for a new Horizon Europe call to develop and pilot immersive technology solutions for improved interactions between your collections & your visitors, and to contribute to cultural heritage preservation.

What’s in it for you?

• Join a large-scale European initiative to preserve Europe’s cultural heritage.
• Pilot cutting-edge immersive technologies for museum and cultural institutions.
• Each participant gets a maximum of €60,000.00 to pilot the solution.

Who can apply?

• Full Ecsite members with collections or artefacts of cultural heritage significance (natural heritage included).

In case of doubts about your eligibility, contact Clara Boissenin cboissenin@ecsite.eu.

Apply by 16th December 2024 18.00 CET. Read the full call below.

CALL

About the proposal:

Ecsite is involved in a new Horizon Europe proposal that responds to the call HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-ECCCH-01-04 A European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage – Innovative tools for high-value interactions with visitors and heritage objects.

This is a one-stage call. The project is coordinated by AIJU – Technological institute for children’s products & leisure.

The project aims to improve the museum experience through the use of immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) glasses or Augmented Reality (AR) applications. The objective is to digitize museum collections or artefacts of cultural heritage significant to allow them to virtually “speak” and exchange with visitors, telling their stories and answering their questions through artificial intelligence. The project’s products will also propose gamified interactions supporting visitors in learning from the collections and uncovering information & data that might otherwise go unnoticed. In addition, the project will contribute to the preservation of the digitized collections in collaboration with the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural heritage managed by the European Commission.

If successfully funded, the project is expected to start in autumn 2025.

Ecsite and the Coordinator of the proposal are looking for three Ecsite members to pilot the project’s solutions & digitize parts of their collections or artefacts. The selected members would benefit from the status of Affiliated Entities of Ecsite in the project’s consortium.

Your role in the project

Your expected tasks would include the following, performed with the support of the partners in the consortium:

• Digitization and Metadata Creation:
  • Support the digitization of your collections using high-resolution imaging and 3D scanning technologies.
  • Contribute to generating metadata for each artefact with the purpose of preserving them, using AI.
• Development of Immersive Experiences:
  • Support the design and implementation of VR/AR experiences for interacting with digitized collections.
  • Support the integration of AI conversational tools to enable interactive storytelling with your collections and personalized Q&A sessions.
• Integration with Existing Platforms:
  • Under the guidance of the consortium, ensure the system is compatible with ECCCH, including open API integration for seamless data sharing.
  • Contribute to facilitating collaboration with global repositories like Europeana.
• Collaborative Features:
  • Participate in the creation of tools that allow museums to co-create VR/AR content and share digital resources within a broader network.
• Educational and Gamification Design:
  • Participate in the development of educational modules and gamified experiences to promote learning and engagement.
• Data Collection and Analysis:
  • Analyze visitor behavior and educational outcomes.
  • Use insights to plan improvements for the user.
• Outreach and Inclusivity Initiatives:
  • Support the project in designing experiences that are accessible and cater to diverse audiences.

Indicative budget

The maximum budget available per Affiliated Entity is 60,000.00EUR in lump sum form, expected to be split as follows:

• Technology Development (40%) with support from project partners:
  • VR/AR design and development
  • AI integration and metadata automation.
• Digitization Efforts (20%) with support from project partners:
  • Equipment purchase and maintenance.
  • Professional services for scanning and metadata creation.
• Collaboration and Outreach (15%):
  • Tools and platforms for collaboration, and attendance to relevant meetings & events
• Educational Tools and Gamification (10%):
  • Design and implementation of gamified learning modules.
• Impact Measurement and Evaluation (10%):
  • Data analysis tools to evaluate visitor experience and educational impact.
• Administration and Miscellaneous (5%)

Obligatory:

• Ecsite Full Member status in 2024 & 2023.
• English-speaking project manager
• Be an institution with collections or artifacts of cultural heritage significance (tangible, intangible or natural heritage, which can be of scientific or technological nature)
• Experience with or willingness to digitize and share parts of their collections or artifacts under open-access principles
• Have access to infrastructure required for VR/AR/AI implementation, or at least be willing to adopt such technologies.

In case of doubts about your eligibility, contact Clara Boissenin cboissenin@ecsite.eu.

Desirable:

• Preference for entities from regions underrepresented in Horizon Europe, in particular Widening Countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) and Associated Countries with equivalent R&I characteristics (Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine).
• Preference for small-scale institutions

How to apply

Please fill in the online form by 16th December 2024 18:00 CET. Successful applicants will be notified in due course and may be requested to submit additional information.