Digital technologies, including Augmented Reality, radically changed how tangible and intangible culture is sustained, managed, and disseminated. Globalization, swift socio-political changes, financial instability, and the global pandemic often impede preservation efforts and disengage younger generations in exploring and developing a comprehensive understanding of their cultural heritage, identity, values, customs, and beliefs (see Wan Isa, Mat Zin, Rosdi, & Mohd Samir, 2018).

Interactive audio-visual content mediated by novel technologies can serve as a mechanism to engage audiences, especially younger generations across the globe, extending beyond traditional geographic boundaries. As immersive technologies advance, they facilitate the development of more personalized content and new narrative forms, targeting a broader audience to promote engagement and sustainability (see Podara, Giomelakis, Nicolaou, Matsiola, & Kotsakis, 2021). Within these trajectories, multiple studies and initiatives have been undertaken to engage the audience in re-interpreting specific social and historical constructs. Kontiza, Antoniou, Daif, Reboreda-Morillo, Bassani, González-Soytelo, Lykourentzou, Jones, Padfield, & López-Nores (2020), for instance, introduce four pilot cases: “one of the pilots asked visitors to reflect on aspects of common European history through art, another one on women’s place in past and today’s societies, a third pilot asked people to reflect on population movements and migration, whereas a fourth one asked people to reflect on healing practices and the therapeutic use of water” (p. 22). The reflection provided a path to investigate the reconstruction and reinterpretation of social and historical aspects.

A sustainable European integration model is contingent upon “culture, creativity and inclusive society” (“Horizon Europe Work Programme, 2021-2022,” p.5). Technological advancements, such as integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Augmented Reality, can enact new affordances for customized interactive experiences through stories, narratives, and historical venues. Users will be empowered, and the experiences will reach a new level, transcending the physical boundaries and current technological limitations. However, such initiatives will also impose more financial, software, and hardware demands and more advanced software development skills.

1. Isa, W. M. W., Zin, N. A. M., Rosdi, F., & Sarim, H. M. (2018). Digital preservation of intangible cultural heritage. Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 12(3), 1373-1379.
2. Kontiza K, Antoniou A, Daif A, Reboreda-Morillo S, Bassani M, González-Soutelo S, Lykourentzou I, Jones CE, Padfield J, López-Nores M. On How Technology-Powered Storytelling Can Contribute to Cultural Heritage Sustainability across Multiple Venues—Evidence from the CrossCult H2020 Project. Sustainability. 2020; 12(4):1666. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041666
3. Podara, A., Giomelakis, D., Nicolaou, C., Matsiola, M., & Kotsakis, R. (2021). Digital storytelling in cultural heritage: Audience engagement in the interactive documentary new life. Sustainability, 13(3), 1193.