FOUNDATION OF HELLENIC WORLD INTERVIEW

PREPARATION

The interview will be made by telco (by using Zoom and its recording functionality) and
it will take approx. 20/25 minutes for the whole session.

Only a few (and simple) steps are necessary in view of the interview:

 agreed on a set of maximum 5 questions, plus the intro and the greetings, as
below specified (→ “Questions”), and write down a draft text for each question
according to the time slot.
 set up one of the branded virtual background here
 reply to questions asked by FST staff :)

Please start your reply with “Question number x - record 1” to allow zoom recordings to
work properly (to ensure to record the full sentences, useful for the editing phase).
Technicalities and other “tricks” will be better explained by FST staff before starting the
interview.

QUESTIONS

1. (INTRO) Please introduce yourself (name, role and organisation) and a

short description of your background in the field

[~ 30 seconds (per head, in case of more than 1 person)]

NOTE: Here, it’s supposed to give an insight about how you (a cultural organisation)
approach digital and emerging technologies

My name is Dimitris Efraimoglou and I am the Managing Director of the Foundation of

the Hellenic World.
FHW is dedicated to the research and preservation of hellenic history and its cultural
heritage, using state-of the art technologies. In fact, FHW is the combination of the
research centre that specializes in the digitization of intangible heritage, and the
cultural centre HELLENIC COSMOS where we apply our work using (among other tools)
Virtual Reality systems for educational & recreational experiences.
 2. How did you approach virtual reality? (And which usage do you envisage
for the near future?)

[~ 1 minute]

NOTE: Here, it’s supposed to briefly describe the state of the art of the VR and XR
implementation in the cultural field from museums and other cultural targets

FHW has developed an important expertise that combines cultural & historical
information with virtual reality. It is, as they tell us, one of the leading European
organizations in that field. Interactive VR productions can provide more information
about the subject of the presentation, than traditional media. FHW has successfully
implemented a large number of relevant projects, using large scale interactive VR
theaters, which fullfill the demand of engaged learning, imersion and, the social context
of a visit to a musem.
To name a few: "A Walk Through Ancient Olympia", "A visit to Ancient Miletus",
"Interactive Tour at the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora of Athens" e.t.c. These VR tours
are of high cultural value, as they are developed based on original & innovative
research, documentation & visualization of the historical & archaeological information.

3. What is the added value that XR technology can bring to cultural

organisations?

[~ 45 seconds]

NOTE: Please try to highlight how the project is tackling the challenge to innovate and
democratise the adoption of XR

The added value of high immersion XR experience using headsets & a dedicated
experience room, as we design for the Bridges project, is the ability to provide for a
small group a premium highly immersive educational experience.

Besides beeing a motivator for atttracting new audiences to Hellenic Cosmos, we will be
able to provide a new and fresh educational & novel experience to the Greek public.

4. In your experience as a cultural organization/venue, what are the main

challenges the project is tackling?
 [~ 45 seconds]

The main challenge the current museums are facing is how to use new modern
technology in an educational context and, at the same time, remain fresh & novel
regarding technological advances. As nowdays we are able to experience advanced
VR/AR technologies in our home environments, museums & cultural intitutions such as
Hellenic Cosmos struggle to keep up in order to motivate audiences to visit their
premises.
The mission of a museum is to provide, not only an educational exprience, but also, to
fullfill a social experience for small groups and families. Therefore, the ability to provide
a hihgly immersive educational (Extended R.) XR group experience is a highly
anticipated and needed goal of every technological venue.
 5. Within the BRIDGES project you are the setting for one of the two fields
addressed by the project (informal learning - museums visits), how are you
dealing with it? (please provide concrete examples, if any)

[~ 2 minutes]

NOTE: Please mention the latest progress, the requirements (in terms of professional
figures and equipment), how you will test it

For the Bridges project we will provide an “educational Group XR experience”. We are
going to develop, implement & host an XR experience about every-day life in Ancient
Greece. We are responsible for the development of the informal learning scenario, the
creation of the storytelling & narrative development, the historical validation and the
technological consultation of the experience, that is hosted in our Museum.

FHW will play an active role as a system integrator in order to target successful uses of
technologies in the cultural-heritage for the museums & education sectors.

The experience will be based on Head Mounted Display technology, active tracking and
natural user interactions. A dedicated location (Immersive Holodeck, if you like) will be
created, where the visitors will experience a lifelike visit to an Ancient Athenian Home.
The visitors will learn about every day life and the culture of the Ancient Greeks.

They will be equiped and have to wear special XR equipment and will be able to walk
around the area of the Holodeck, so they will participate in a deeply immersive
storytelling experience.

Each visitor will be educated beforehand about the usage of the equipment. Plus, they
will have the chance to learn historical and cultural facts about the ancient Athenian
house they are going to visit.

The experience will last 15-20 minutes for a maximum of 5 users.

The group will visit an ancient Greek home as guests on a special day in 400 BC Ancient
Athens, taking part at the festivities of a wealthy Athenian family. Our skilled Museum
educators will prepare each group, providing a custom experience depending on the
group dynamic. They may also assist the visitors during the experience for technical
difficulties and also answer any questions raised after the experience. Thus we will
provide a unique, tailored and educational expereince that will be remembered.

FHW will implement a focus-group approach to evaluation, by working with the

different groups. The groups will be answering evaluation questionnaires and
participate to discussions in order to acquire a more holistic evaluation of the user
experiece.

6. What is the must-have (the element that can not be missing) in creating an
XR experience for a museum?

[~ 45 seconds]

NOTE: if possible, please reply both from your perspective and form an user-perspective

The educational element and the historical truth & validation is the primary goal of any
(Extended R.) XR experience for us. It is of great importance to fulfill three objectives:
To be experiential, archaeological & historically correct, and educationally
effective. It is not our goal to dazzle the visitor with technology, we are not an
amuzement park, but, we use technology in order to fullfill an educational goal and
motivate audiences to come back for more customized content about their culture.

We are uniquely positioned to achieve this goal within the Bridges consortium. Our 20+
year experience in creating VR educational experiences, exhibitions and educational
programms, using high tech VR systems & interactive applications, will be a valuable
skill that the project will benefit.

7. (CONCLUSION) Greetings (e.g. “Goodbye”) in English and in your own language

[~ 5 seconds]

We are verry happy to participate in this highly interresting project and look forward to
provide this experience to the Greek public.

Αντίο σας!

See you in Ελληνικό ς Κό σμος!

Εις το επανιδείν!