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Because of the possibilities that it opens for a variety of fields and practices, gamification has increasingly garnered significant attention. This has put it at the forefront of many significant debates around its applicability and implications. In the case of its application to cultural heritage, although there is much trailblazing to do, the body of work has been growing and the field is gaining its maturity. As such, this paper aims to take stock of the directions the field has been moving towards—to provide orientation for future work and projects that are yet to be developed. To do this, the paper aims to map out the publications in the field of gamified cultural heritage, by conducting a broader and systematic literature review. The study has found that, with regards to who the main actors with publications in the field are, a prominence of European institutions and networks, namely from Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom, can be observed. Regarding what heritage is being gamified and for what purpose, the study found a prominence of focus on historical, architectural and archeological heritage values and a very significant focus on gamification being used for motivation/engagement and for creativity enhancement. When looking at the gamification design dimensions that are given prevalence, intrinsic motivation seems to be prioritized, and, with regards to the observed target publics, tourists and visitors and seem to prevail in gamified heritage projects, with children as a specific group coming in second. Regarding technologies and tools being used, Mobile Applications, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are particularly prevalent. Regarding mentioned future orientations, the study found that a vast majority of papers are self-contained, both in scope of work and discussion, with most of those that do mention future directions indicating continuation and/or expansion of their specific project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the last decades, engaging with cultural landscapes has been a scientific, social, ethical, political, and economic imperative that calls for novel theoretical approaches, effective strategies and, above all, participatory action. Facing this multifarious challenge, academic disciplines have to redefine their traditional methods and aims, and demonstrate an openness towards new and risky paths of scientific pursuits. The present paper arose from interdisciplinary cooperation between the humanities and social sciences with the main objective to explore the potential of cultural landscapes as resources for social innovation in rural regions, addressing issues such as out-migration of original inhabitants, unemployment, and an overaging population. Based on an overview of landscape semantics and theoretical approaches, the paper first analyzes (cultural) landscape and social innovation as applied concepts. In a second step, both disciplinary angles mingle into a joint approach. Moving from methodologies to challenges, the authors discuss the Social Grid Model, which allows for an integrated analysis of social networks, institutions, and cognitive frames. They also delve into the Structured Democratic Dialogue as a tool for the revitalization of 'active' and 'inactive' cultural landscapes by reinforcing the role of local communities. Finally, the authors investigate how such novel ideas for the promotion of tangible and intangible heritage in rural habitats can be employed by example of two intervention regions in Greece (Koumasa) and the People's Republic of China (Honghe Hani Rice Terraces), and as part of an orchestrated collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a comprehensive methodology to support the multifaceted process involved in the digitization, curation, and virtual exhibition of cultural heritage artifacts. The proposed methodology is applied in the context of a unique collection of contemporary dresses inspired by antiquity. Leveraging advanced 3D technologies, including lidar scanning and photogrammetry, we meticulously captured and transformed physical garments into highly detailed digital models. The postprocessing phase refined these models, ensuring an accurate representation of the intricate details and nuances inherent in each dress. Our collaborative efforts extended to the dissemination of this digital cultural heritage, as we partnered with the national aggregator in Greece, SearchCulture, to facilitate widespread access. The aggregation process streamlined the integration of our digitized content into a centralized repository, fostering cultural preservation and accessibility. Furthermore, we harnessed the power of these 3D models to transcend traditional exhibition boundaries, crafting a virtual experience that transcends geographical constraints. This virtual exhibition not only enables online exploration but also invites participants to immerse themselves in a captivating virtual reality environment. The synthesis of cutting-edge digitization techniques, cultural aggregation, and immersive exhibition design not only contributes to the preservation of contemporary cultural artifacts but also redefines the ways in which audiences engage with and experience cultural heritage in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architectural survey is an evolving field in architecture that has been affected during the past decade by the technological advancements in the field of 3D data acquisition. Some of these technological advancements include long-range laser scanning and photogrammetry. Laser scanning gives us an accurate documentation of the site, even in cases where parts of the building have collapsed. This paper aims to present two case studies of digital documentation through laser scanning and photogrammetry that led to the structural reinforcement and preservation of the first site and to a digital reconstruction and a mixed reality platform for the second site. The first site is an Ottoman Soap factory in Lod, Israel and the second one is an Ottoman Bathhouse in Apollonia, Greece. Both sites dealt with challenges during documentation due to a partial collapse of the building or due to dangerous structural conditions. The digital documentation methodologies allowed for a fast, accurate and comprehensive survey, as well as for a good understanding of the building and the areas which were concealed as a result of the collapse. At the same time, the digital documentation model gave the potential for the cultural heritage (CH) site to become part of the social, economic and cultural local community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serifos island is characterized by rich geodiversity, industrial and cultural heritage. The present paper focuses on the geological and mining heritage of Serifos, with the aim of integrating the island in the international environment of Geoparks, in the near future. In this geopark, Serifos can highlight the rich geological heritage of the island combined with the rich industrial heritage as expressed by mining activities since prehistoric times and the mining facilities of iron and copper mines. During the present study, six geotrails have been developed to link these cultural and ecological sites with the geological heritage. Along the routes, the geodiversity is explained, including its relationship with the surrounding biodiversity, and the historical and cultural aspects of the region. In the proposed geocultural routes (geotrails), the dialectic relationship between Humans and Nature is determined by historical conditions and by the record of the process that transforms space into a landscape. The geological-mining heritage of Serifos will attract people from all over the world with different kind of interests and will make it known to alternative tourists. The results of this paper are intended to constitute a valuable tool for enhancing and raising awareness of the geological heritage of the island of Serifos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data recordings of the movement of vehicles can be enriched with heterogeneous and multimodal data beyond latitude, longitude, and timestamp and enhanced with complementary segmentations, constituting a semantic trajectory. Semantic Web (SW) technologies have been extensively used for the semantic integration of heterogeneous and multimodal movement-related data, and for the effective modeling of semantic trajectories, in several domains. In this paper, we present an integrated solution for the engineering of cultural heritage semantic trajectories generated from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and represented as knowledge graphs (KGs). Particularly, this work is motivated by, and evaluated based on, the application domain of UAV missions for documenting regions/points of cultural heritage interest. In this context, this research work extends our previous work on UAV semantic trajectories, contributing (a) an updated methodology for the engineering of semantic trajectories as KGs (STaKG), (b) an implemented toolset for the management of KG-based semantic trajectories, (c) a refined ontology for the representation of knowledge related to UAV semantic trajectories and to cultural heritage documentation, and (d) the application and evaluation of the proposed methodology, the developed toolset, and the ontology within the domain of UAV-based cultural heritage documentation. The evaluation of the integrated UAV solution was achieved by exploiting real datasets collected during three UAV missions to document sites of cultural interest in Lesvos, Greece, i.e., the UNESCO-protected petrified forest of Lesvos Petrified Forest/Geopark, the village of Vrissa, and University Hill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR), as implemented with projection mapping, is part of mixed-reality technology with numerous applications in the cultural domain. In museums, interactive projection mapping has been exploited to superimpose virtual content on exhibited artefacts, offering users various hybrid ways to interact with the artefacts' physical and digital content. For this reason, it has been widely used in the context of architectural heritage to promote culture and raise awareness about historical buildings or landscapes by visualizing significant elements they convey. This paper presents the design, development, and iterative user evaluation of an interactive projection mapping installation for the Mastic Museum on Chios island in Greece that promotes UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage. The installation affords tangible interaction to activate the video projections presented in a storytelling manner on a 3D-printed scale model of a representative historic settlement exhibited inside the museum. The concept of this installation aims to connect the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of mastic and the related villages with narration and vivid illustrations. Three evaluation phases took place during the development at the lab and the museum, informing UX, learning, and design considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Pinus heldreichii is a long-living tree subalpine species commonly used for climate reconstruction. Nevertheless, its potential for dendroarchaeology and dating of historical timber remains unknown. In Metsovo and in the surrounding area of Pindus National Park (Northern Greece) it is commonly used for the construction of buildings and wooden objects and artifacts. (2) Methods: We examined timber found in historical buildings within the study area and we tried to date it using local reference chronologies of Bosnian and Black pines. (3) Results: Bosnian pine chronologies can be used to date timber from historical buildings, while they can also be used as reference chronologies against Black pines, giving very high cross-dating values. Therefore, and since the macroscopic identification of the two species' timber is impossible, the analysis of wood anatomy is necessary to distinguish the two species in the case of historical wood. (4) Conclusions: The current paper presents the first application of dendroarchaeology for Bosnian pine and highlights the potential of the species in studying cultural heritage and the human past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although place branding in cross-border (c-b) areas is challenging, various c-b areas with common eco-natural and cultural characteristics are popular tourist brands in their own right. The emergence of c-b areas as destinations is not surprising since international borders are often natural formations, which may be popular tourist attractions. Due to historical and political circumstances, the Greek–Albanian c-b area has not experienced tourism development. It bears a weak image, and although individual destinations can be found in both border areas, they do not currently form a single place brand. Thus, place branding that aims to enhance the c-b area's attractiveness should start with building a single identity by finding common competitive characteristics upon which it can be based. This paper analyzes part of the 'Culture Plus' project, which aims to identify significant common eco-natural and cultural resources in the Greek–Albanian c-b area. The resources were documented using local visits, interviews, and consultations. The most significant ones were comparatively evaluated to identify the vital common assets that can support place branding efforts, with encouraging results regarding the potential branding of the unique hidden identity of the c-b area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), this article highlights the fact that the cataloging procedures, the way records are stored, and the metadata models used during the recording, visualization, and storage of ICH expression elements, vary from country to country. Especially in these days of great uncertainty, war conflicts, and systemic risks that may arise, it is vital to clarify what techniques will be used in the storage of ICH to ensure its unhindered preservation and dissemination over time across the globe. Using the systems thinking approach indicated for cases of great complexity, the process followed in Greece for depositing a new element in its local repository is described to demonstrate the need for a well-defined process by UNESCO, which must be followed worldwide, and which has not been defined so far. What are the potential challenges not only in determining the type of data, but also in choosing the best metadata model to use in each case when capturing these data? What technologies must be used for storing digital cultural heritage in such a way that will preserve it over time, defying physical and technological hazards? This article finally suggests how blockchain technologies (BT) can be effectively used to store the global ICH and ensure its continuity in future generations by creating a decentralized worldwide network between the heritage stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the high-quality 3D archaeological representations from niche products to integrated online media has not yet been completed. Digital archives of the field often lack multimodal data interoperability, user interaction and intelligibility. A web-based cultural heritage archive that compensates for these issues is presented in this paper. The multi-resolution 3D models constitute the core of the visualization on top of which supportive documentation data and multimedia content are spatial and logical connected. Our holistic approach focuses on the dynamic manipulation of the 3D scene through the development of advanced navigation mechanisms and information retrieval tools. Users parse the multi-modal content in a geo-referenced way through interactive annotation systems over cultural points of interest and automatic narrative tours. Multiple 3D and 2D viewpoints are enabled in real-time to support data inspection. The implementation exploits front-end programming languages, 3D graphic libraries and visualization frameworks to handle efficiently the asynchronous operations and preserve the initial assets' accuracy. The choice of Greece's Meteora, UNESCO world site, as a case study accounts for the platform's applicability to complex geometries and large-scale historical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth observation sensors continually provide datasets with different spectral and spatial characteristics, while a series of pre- and postprocessing techniques are needed for calibration purposes. Nowadays, a variety of satellite images have become accessible to researchers, while big data cloud platforms allow them to deal with an extensive number of datasets. However, there is still difficulty related to these sensors meeting specific needs and challenges such as those of cultural heritage and supporting archaeological research world-wide. The harmonization and synergistic use of different sensors can be used in order to maximize the impact of earth observation sensors and enhance their benefit to the scientific community. In this direction, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has proposed the concept of virtual constellations, which is defined as "a coordinated set of space and/or ground segment capabilities from different partners that focuses on observing a particular parameter or set of parameters of the Earth system". This paper provides an overview of existing and future earth observation sensors, the various levels of interoperability as proposed by Wulder et al., and presents some preliminary results from the Thessalian plain in Greece using integrated optical and radar Sentinel images. The potential for archaeolandscape studies using virtual constellations is discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contributing to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within Target 11.4 "Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world's cultural and natural heritage", it is critical to monitor the spatial and temporal stabilities of cultural heritages. The study of the interactive relationship between earthquakes and the protection of cultural heritages needs to be strengthened. On 27 September 2021, the destructive Mw 5.9 Arkalochori earthquake occurred ~25 km away from the city of Heraklion (Greece) where the Heraklion City Wall (HCW), a representative cultural heritage of Greece and Europe, was located. This offered a proper case to investigate the shortcomings aforementioned. Here, we intend to set up and answer the following three questions (Whether, Where and What, 3Ws): Whether there were impacts on the HCW caused by the Arkalochori earthquake? Where did the maximum deformation occur? What was the relationship between seismic deformation between the epicenter and the HCW over time? We performed two-dimensional (2D) InSAR measurements for both co-seismic and post-seismic deformations using the ascending and descending Sentinel-1A SAR images. The spatial-temporal characteristics of Up–Down (UD) and East–West (EW) were revealed. The 2D co-seismic deformation field showed that the near-filed deformations were dominating compared with the deformations at the HCW, the UD deformation was mainly featured with subsidence with a maximum value of ~21 cm, the EW deformation was ~9 cm westward and ~10 cm eastward. The time-series measurements showed that: (1) temporally, the HCW responded quickly to the Arkalochori earthquake, and the accumulative deformations at the seven different bastions of the HCW showed the same trend as the near-field area over time. (2) Spatially, the closer to the Mw 5.9 epicenter, the larger the deformations that occurred. (3) The EW and UD deformation trends of the HCW that were consistent with the Mw 5.9 epicenter were interrupted at the middle time spot (22 January 2022), indicating the influence of another earthquake sequence consisting of eight earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 3.5 that happened on 16–18 January 2022. Respectively, to summarize and address the aforementioned 3Ws based on the post-seismic analysis accomplished by the MSBAS method, the Arkalochori earthquake did affect the HCW; besides, the influences of the ~13 km earthquake sequence were also detected; the nearest part to the epicenter suffered the most; the deformation trends of the HCW were approximately the same with the epicenter area of the Arkalochori earthquake both in the UD and EW directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the worldwide socio-economic environment in various and unpredicted ways. More specifically, the pandemic restrictions and the necessary social distancing have generated questions concerning the 'day after' of religious tourism, especially in association with the value attributed to proximity, sharing, and communal worship in the Orthodox Church tradition. For the time being, pilgrimages and religious tourism in the Greek Orthodox context are quite stable and resilient, and seem to be intertwined with cultural heritage, the modern search for authenticity, and the touristic experience. This analysis aims to explore the key factors that may shape the future trends and plans for pilgrimage and religious tourism in the Greek Orthodox segment. For this reason, it will focus paradigmatically on the region of Central Macedonia in Greece, which is known for its religious and cultural heritage. This is an area in Northern Greece, linked to the missionary journeys of Apostle Paul, and to iconic religious destinations, such as mount Athos and UNESCO World Heritage sites like the Byzantine monuments in Thessaloniki. The analysis will further examine the possibilities of developing new and multidimensional forms of tourism, focused on visits to religious sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D modeling techniques have grown increasingly prevalent in a variety of disciplines, including cultural heritage and ship design. The methodology used in the 3D reconstruction of a traditional Greek boat with the Trechadiri hull type named "Aghia Varvara" is presented in this study. The original boat was built in 1925 and is characterized as a modern cultural heritage monument by the Greek Ministry of Culture. The digital reconstruction of the boat is explained in detail, including 3D laser scanning and computer aided geometric design (CAGD), as well as the description of the 3D printing process. The boat's 3D digital model has been used for the enrichment of the NAVS Project's digital library, demonstrating the unique geometrical, typological, and cultural characteristics of Greek traditional shipbuilding, a living craft which listed on Greece's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rockfall events consist one of the most hazardous geological phenomena in mountainous landscapes, with the potential to turn catastrophic if they occur near an anthropogenic environment. Rockfall hazard and risk assessments are recognized as some of the most challenging surveys among the geoengineering society, due to the urgent need for accurate foresight of likely rockfall areas, together with their magnitude and impact. In recent decades, with the introduction of remote sensing technologies, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, the construction of qualitative and quantitative analyses for rockfall events became more precise. This study primarily aims to take advantage of the UAV's capabilities, in order to produce a detailed hazard and risk assessment via the proposition of a new semi-quantitative rating system. The area of application is located in the cultural heritage area of Kipinas Monastery in Epirus, Greece, which is characterized by the absence of pre-existing data regarding previous rockfall events. As an outcome, it was shown that the suggested methodology, with the combination of innovative remote sensing technologies with traditional engineering geological field surveys, can lead to the extraction of all the necessary quantitative data input for the proposed rating system for any natural slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]