360° CULTURE: THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION OF THE UGO DA COMO FOUNDATION BEGINS

The resumption of activities for the Ugo Da Como Foundation is in the name of innovation. In the presence of an audience of over 170 guests, on Saturday 12 June all the new features that the Foundation offers to its public were presented: the three Augmented Reality itineraries developed by ARt Glass (the Fortress, the Ornithological Museum, the House Museum), the Immersive Room curated by DCG Group and the restoration of the Galleria della Casa del Podestà. A unique place of culture and tourism becomes an integrated system of tourist enjoyment 4.0.

These are the fruits of the intense work that saw the Ugo Da Como Foundation as the author and protagonist. Starting from the important restoration works of the Gallery which revealed and returned to the public three monumental tears from the fresco depicting “Captains of Fortune” by Romanino, even though for a long time they were attributed to the hand of Floriano Ferramola. According to recent studies, these wonderful frescoes date back to the early 16th century and belong to the decorative cycle created for the Orsini Castle in Ghedi. Together with this important restoration intervention, the walls, books, fixtures and wooden furnishings were also restored, with the conservative cleaning of the terracotta floor and a new lighting system.

These works thus launch the new season of the Rocca and the Casa del Podestà where, now, past and future meet in every environment, with the new immersive room located in the basement of the sixteenth-century Casa del Capitano, already operational and visitable, and the new virtual visits with 3D glasses and augmented reality, involving the Rocca, the Ornithological Museum and the Casa del Podestà.

Inside the immersive room it is possible to become the protagonists of an emotional guided tour that allows the user to get to know and visit the spaces enhanced by the Foundation, in its extraordinary history and in the wonderful and varied territory that surrounds it. This experience tells in an interactive and highly engaging way the monumental complex (the Venetian Visconti Fortress and its park, the “Casa del Podestà” Museum with the Library) and the landscape, thanks to spectacular images that envelop the user and immerse him, at 360 degrees, in the historical and landscape dimension. The storytelling of the immersive experience aims to give the user real added value, providing historical information, interesting notions of the territory and the vicissitudes that have characterized it.

The second intervention focuses on the use of Augmented Reality: the new Augmented Reality visit experience uses wearable and user-friendly technologies created specifically to enhance historical and cultural heritage by ARtGlass, leader in Italy in the sector of the Capital Culture Group. Through an audio-video guide created with transparent Epson Moverio smartglasses customized with the Augmented Reality software owned and patented by ARtGlass, it is now possible to enrich the visit of the Rocca di Lonato, the “Gustavo Adolfo Carlotto” Ornithological Museum and the “Casa del Podesta”.

Of great interest is the structure of the three itineraries which offer three different points of view to tell the history of the places: for the Rocca it is Isabella d’Este herself who accompanies the visitor; for the Casa del Podestà and the Library it is the voice of Ugo Da Como who leads – in a continuous game of exchange with the guide who accompanies the group – visitors to discover his collections; finally, for the Ornithological Museum, a documentary approach was favored, to discover the fascinating world of Italian avifauna.

After a careful and detailed research activity, conducted by Capitale Cultura in coordination with the scientific team of the Ugo Da Como Foundation and the multimedia reconstruction experts, and carried out starting from the extraordinary library and iconographic heritage kept by the same institution, the chosen the themes to be enhanced and communicated to the public.