Stella Sylaiou

International Hellenic University · School of Science and Technology

This article explores the affective potential of virtual humans in virtual museum (VM) environments. Three avatars (personifying a curator, a guard, and a visitor, respectively) have been employed as storytellers introducing participants to the emotive story behind a historical sculpture. The emotional responses of a test group have been correlated...

This chapter explores the integration of affective storytelling in virtual museum (VM) experience. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) affects the way people create, communicate and learn, opens novel opportunities and provides new means for museums to create narratives, express their points and provide quality experiences....

This literature review surveys published research that aims to foster blind and visually impaired (VI) people’s engagement with cultural heritage. The reviewed papers cover a broad area of methodological approaches, outlining challenges and solutions for empowering VI people to enjoy cultural heritage sites and museums, mainly with the use of Infor...

This study presents the background and the evaluation of integrating eXtended Reality (XR) in the permanent exhibition at the Tomato Industrial Museum “D. Nomikos”. This paper firstly provides the context of this study by outlining the methodological, technological, and museological approaches undertaken to integrate XR in a quest to enhance visito...

The study presents the evaluation of integrating Extended Reality applications in situ to foster visitors' experience at the Tomato Industrial Museum "D. Nomikos". This paper firstly provides an outline of the methodological, technological, and museological approaches undertaken to integrate XR in a quest to enhance visitors’ meaningful engagement...

The significance of data acquisition in archaeological practice has consistently held great importance. Over the past few decades, the growing prevalence of digitization in acquiring data has significantly transformed the landscape of archaeological fieldwork, influencing both methodology and interpretation. The integration of digital photogrammetr...

This article presents the results of a survey on the use of digital avatars and agents in museums and places of cultural interest. The optimization of virtual agents in the cultural heritage domain is an interdisciplinary undertaking and this paper investigates pertinent research and solutions and suggests ways forward. The research questions exami...

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 whe...

COVID-19 (C19) was first recognized and described in November 2019 in Wuhan. In January 2020, WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern as a result of the spreading epidemic. By March of the same year, C19 was declared a pandemic. In connection with the pandemic, individual countries around the world enacted a variety of polic...

There are reasons to consider virtual reality (VR) as a newly arrived communication medium that ought to be differentiated from all other forms of mediated communication, since it is the first and only medium with the potential to enable incorporation of the full spectrum of both verbal and non-verbal cues. The present paper is part of a broader sc...

Data acquisition has always been of the utmost importance in archaeological practice. In recent decades, increasing digitization in data acquisition has made a huge impact in the way archaeological fieldwork is carried out, both in terms of methodology and interpretation. This short paper aims to show how methodologies of digital documentation have...

This study examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the decision of people to visit the Mount Athos monastic community. It traces the immediate reaction of pilgrims and visitors to a world religious/ heritage place vis-à-vis the global health risk. The questionnaire-based methodology investigates the respondents' attitude towards faith, as...

“Interaction” represents a critical term in the augmented and mixed reality ecosystem. Today, in mixed reality environments and applications, interaction occupies the joint space between any combination of humans, physical environment, and computers. Although interaction methods and techniques have been extensively examined in recent decades in the...

This paper presents a cutting-edge application, namely, “Mergin’Mode” (https://merginmode.com/), on the basis of its first pilot implementation which took place within a project aiming at the accurate visual documentation and innovative reconstruction of a specific cultural heritage building. Prior to this, it presents the primary mapping technique...

We put forward a conceptualization of Mixed Reality as a blend of digital objects with real ones that coexist and interact with each other and they are also spatially referenced so that they are properly perceived in space by an observer that could potentially be at any position any time. In accordance with this statement, we have adopted the conce...

Recent advancements in Virtual Reality (VR) technologies provide new opportunities for Cultural Heritage (CH) organizations to attract, engage, and support end-users more efficiently and effectively [...]

Στον 21ο αιώνα ο χώρος του πολιτισμού χαρακτηρίζεται από μια "εκπαιδευτική στροφή", ενώ παράλληλα τα μουσεία υιοθετούν όλο και περισσότερο τις Τεχνολογίες της Πληροφορίας και της Επικοινωνίας (ΤΠΕ), απευθύνονται σε νέες κατηγορίες κοινού και εισάγουν νέα μέσα αλληλεπίδρασης με εκθέματα διευρύνοντας, εμπλουτίζοντας και ενισχύοντας τη μουσειακή εμπει...

The paper focuses on the current developments of the Greek new media arts scene and digital performances, a field of contemporary art which still remains non- contextualized in a particular socio-political environment by art theoreticians in Greece. The present study explores the concept of newness in new media arts and provides an overview and a c...

Since smart devices are becoming the primary technological means for daily human activities related to user-location, location-based services constitute a crucial component of the related smart applications. Meanwhile, traditional geospatial tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) in conjunction with photogrammetric techniques and 3D vis...

Immersive virtual museum environments can play a crucial role for communicating cultural information in an engaging and educational way, especially when storytelling is involved. In this paper we explore and assess the impact that the status of three types of avatars (embodiments of a museum curator, a museum security guard and a museum visitor, re...

There are different expressions of Cultural Heritage, from material to intangible heritage, whereas the term Cultural Heritage many times encompasses the main category of immovable Cultural Heri-tage (buildings, monuments, archaeological sites...). All over Europe, Heritage Buildings (HBs) attract millions of visitors every year. Being a part of pa...

Understanding, conceptualizing and transcribing the geographical space through maps or other types of documents do not render their objective reality, as they depend on the vantage point through which they are made, the goals and the needs they serve. Particularly in the context of an artistic reflection process, the geographical space is beyond it...

This paper discusses the uses and the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in contemporary museums. ICT play an increasingly important role in fostering the promotion of arts and cultural heritage educational activities, as well as programs and actions in museum learning environments, whose aim is to attract and serve visit...

Cultural organizations need to adopt contemporary methods and ways of communication for heritage management. Raising people's interest for cultural heritage may take place via the implementation of innovative communication tools that allow for engagement to take place. Research though has shown that cultural organizations are more reluctant than fi...

The complex and interdependent relationship between people and the space that surrounds them has been the central issue of an on-going interdisciplinary discussion that extends well beyond the limits of geography to the fields of anthropology, psychology, history, sociology, ecology and the arts. Already in the 19th century, the advocates of the Ro...

The special issue of Interartive on Walking Art / Walking Aesthetics aims at the presentation of papers and art projects that examine or use walking as a contemporary art practice. Since the Situationists, walking has become a widespread contemporary art practice that has at least two aspects: the one is that of a way of experiencing the environmen...

Does the use of digital media and new technologies during the actual process of walking in a landscape, or for the same matter, the virtual process of “walking” the Internet, exploring a space full of impulses and information, constitute a practice with particular socio-political aspects, or, rather has it been de-politicized as a type of entertain...

The present study explores and analyzes the various ways in which the fundamental principles of Situationism have been applied in specific cases of digital media art creation. Furthermore, the study investigates and comments on the alternative possibilities that are provided to artists, as well to non-artists, through the use of new technologies, i...

Tourism is an industry that has been growing rapidly in the last few years and it is expected that it will continue to grow. Due to the evolution of technology, mobile applications are being increasingly used in all kinds of industries, being one of them tourism. Presently there are already a few mobile applications used to increase the experience...

The raison d’être of museums are their collections. Museums’ main purpose is to collect, preserve exhibit and interpret the objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific significance for the higher reasons of education, study and enjoyment. Museum objects are information carriers. In the Information and Communication Technologies era inf...

This paper addresses the uses and the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in contemporary museums. ICT play an increasingly important role in fostering the promotion of arts and cultural heritage educational activities, as well as programs and actions in museum learning environments, whose aim is to attract and serve visit...

Serious Games (SGs) and Gamification concepts have been introduced lately in many kinds of museum and cultural sites experiences: from on-site gamified navigation to virtual tours in ancient times. Museums and cultural sites have adopted with great success the principles of gamification to offer alternative and more stimulating experiences to their...

Nowadays, marketers are required to rethink their marketing strategies, and provide innovative approaches, based on new communication technologies, along-side the classic channels of business promotion. OneAppy is a platform based on a new eMarketing model, aiming to provide valuable marketing channels and tools for promoting products/services. Aft...

This paper presents a study comparing subject’s magnitude of embodiment from a human into a monkey. Two variants of the experiment were performed. In the first variant participants did not have the ability to control the hands inside the Monkey avatar, they were instructed to just look around from their point of view. In the second variant the abil...

As the development of Mixed Reality (MR) technologies and applications grows, due to visitors’ experience enhancement, cost efficiency and return on investment, they are increasingly exploited by cultural institutions, such as museums, either to further stimulate the visitors’ experience whilst in the physical space or to enable remote virtual expl...

It is well known that the Decadent movement in European literature (fin de siècle) depends on the narrative of the antiquity, as it is revealed from the discoveries of archaeology in the second half of the 19th century. Amid the ruins of the past authors, painters and poets re-conceptualize time and history through a modernist vision based on an im...

Mixed-Reality (MR) worlds are created by fusing together real and virtual elements. This paper presents SEaMlESS, a multiuser, long- distance room-scale MR world. SEaMlESS utilizes widespread 3D modelling techniques and object tracking technologies to enable free user movement by providing full-body motion control, accurate real object representati...

Η παρούσα έρευνα ανιχνεύει τις νέες τάσεις της ανερχόμενης πραγματικότητας στο τοπίο της σύγχρονης τέχνης και τα εκφραστικά μέσα που αυτές χρησιμοποιούν. Ακόμη, συζητάει την τρέχουσα προβληματική της σύγχρονης τέχνης σχετικά με την ενσωμάτωση των ΤΠΕ, αλλά και τους τρόπους που κάτι τέτοιο γίνεται πράξη από τους χώρους ανάπτυξης των νέων καλλιτεχνών...

In recent years, a growing number of organizations worldwide have been using the social media systematically. Social networking sites such as Facebook offer organizations many opportunities for communication and relationship development with their publics. The object of this paper is to describe to what extent and in what way Greek NPOs are using F...

Η φύση δίνει την αίσθηση του αναγκαίου τόσο σε ζητήματα αισθητικής, όσο και σε άλλες εκφάνσεις της ζωής μας, όπως η ιστορία και η πολιτική. Από την άλλη, οι ιστορικές προσλαμβάνουσες γονιμοποιούν την σκέψη του καλλιτέχνη και θεωρούνται ως απαραίτητη συνθήκη για την καλλιτεχνική δημιουργία και την παραγωγή κοινωνικών νοημάτων. Η τέχνη ως κριτική πρα...

Cultural organizations need to adopt contemporary methods and ways of communication for heritage management. Raising people’s interest for cultural heritage may take place via the implementation of innovative communication tools that allow for engagement to take place. Research though has shown that cultural organizations are more reluctant than fi...

This research explores the learning outcomes of online virtual museums employing diverse technologies such as images, videos, 3D reconstructions, etc. It presents the selection criteria (imageability, interactivity, navigability, personalisation, communication) of the five online virtual museums (VMs) involved in the analysis, each of which brings...

Στην ‘Ψυχογεωγραφία στην ψηφιακή εποχή: μια εναλλακτική θεώρηση του αστικού τοπίου’ η Στέλλα Συλαίου, η Μαρία Χουντάση και η Έλενα Λαγούδη αναζητούν την τομή εκείνη, όπου η ψυχογεωγραφία συναντά τις σύγχρονες τεχνολογίες γεωτοποθέτησης και αναμετάδοσης, στην τέχνη και το αστικό τοπίο. Ξεκινώντας από τους καταστασιακούς καλλιτέχνες και την εναλλακτι...

Στο κεφάλαιο 'Σιτουασιονισμός και δημιουργία καταστάσεων σε ψηφιακά περιβάλλοντα τέχνης' οι Στέλλα Συλαίου, Έλενα Λαγούδη και Μαρία Χουντάση συζητούν την περίπτωση βίωσης του τοπίου μέσω της περιπατητικής τέχνης με την βοήθεια των νέων τεχνολογιών της Επικοινωνίας και της Πληροφορίας. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, προσπαθούν να προσδιορίσουν το νέο flâneur, το...

Στο πνεύμα της παραπάνω ανάλυσης κινείται και η δράση της Εικαστικής Πορείας προς τις Πρέσπες (http://visualmarch.eetf.uowm.gr/), η οποία ξεκίνησε το 2007 ως μια καλλιτεχνική - εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία από το Τμήμα Εικαστικών και Εφαρμοσμένων Τεχνών (ΤΕΕΤ) του Πανεπιστήμιου Δυτικής Μακεδονίας (ΠΔΜ) και πιο συγκεκριμένα από το 1ο Εργαστήριο Ζωγραφική...

This research explores the learning outcomes of online Virtual Museums employing diverse technologies such as images, videos, 3D reconstructions, etc. It presents the selection criteria (imageability, interactivity, navigability, personalization, communication) of the five on-line virtual museums (VM) involved in the analysis, each of which brings...

Serious Games (SGs) have been widely adopted in cultural settings and museums, especially the last five years. It is expected that SG can link directly the museum content with target user groups and can fulfill their educational needs. This paper aims to present a systematic mapping study on modern museum gaming technologies and applications. More...

This paper demonstrates how procedural modeling and computer graphics techniques can be combined for creating fast, accurate and realistic modeling of archaeological parts of buildings which can be used for games and virtual environments. As a case study the Ionic order of Greek and Roman temples is examined. In particular, the temple of Portunus i...

Η παρούσα ανακοίνωση παρουσιάζει μια πρόταση για διδασκαλία της σύγχρονης τέχνης με την χρήση έργων που δημιουργήθηκαν με την βοήθεια ενός eye tracker, ενός μηχανισμού που καταγράφει την κίνηση του βλέμματος. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, αναδεικνύονται δύο βασικοί άξονες: (α) τα έργα που δημιουργήθηκαν με την αναδυόμενη τεχνολογία καταγραφής του βλέμματος απο...

Η Εικαστική Πορεία προς τις Πρέσπες (http://visualmarch.eetf.uowm.gr/) υλοποιείται από το 2007 από το Τμήμα Εικαστικών και Εφαρμοσμένων Τεχνών του Πανεπιστήμιου Δυτικής Μακεδονίας με πρωτογενείς εικαστικές δράσεις. Η πορεία στο φυσικό περιβάλλον των Πρεσπών είναι μια πορεία επικοινωνίας τόσο μεταξύ όσων συμμετέχουν, όσο και με το περιβάλλον που ανα...

The ability to develop sophisticated and flexible web and mobile applications based on augmented reality (AR) and gaming engine technologies is incredible taking into account the plethora of powerful mobile computing devices for displaying such applications. In this respect, the research community is challenged to investigate the factors that make...

In recent years a growing number of organizations worldwide have been using the social media systematically. Social networking sites such as Facebook offer organizations many opportunities for communication and relationship development with their publics. The objective of this paper is to describe to what extend and in what way Greek NPOs are using...

Museums as mere repositories for cultural artefacts have long disappeared giving their place to museums as active institutions that prioritize engagement with a diverse range of communities. In today’s multicultural landscape1 that refers, reflects and at the same time adapts to diverse cultures, it is true that there is a growing international gro...

This paper reports on a user-centered formative usability evaluation of diverse visualization technologies used in Virtual Museums. It initially presents the selection criteria and the five museum websites involved in the analysis. Then, it describes the evaluation process, in which a group of subjects explored the museums’ on-line resources and an...

Η παρούσα εργασία πραγματεύεται το φαινόμενο του crowdsourcing στην ψηφιακή Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά και παρουσιάζει μέρος των αποτελεσμάτων μιας εκτεταμένης έρευνας σε crowdsourcing εφαρμογές πολιτιστικών οργανισμών. Εξετάζει τις διαφορετικές κατηγορίες crowdsourcing δραστηριοτήτων και προγραμμάτων που είτε έχουν υλοποιηθεί, είτε είναι σε εξέλιξη. Α...

This chapter describes the evaluation methods conducted for a digital heritage system, called ARCO (Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects), which examines the tools and methods used for its evaluation. The case study describes the knowledge acquired from several user requirement assessments, and further describes how to use this specific kno...

Although international organizations and institutes have developed standards for Information Literacy (IL) in Higher Education, little is known about the extent to which undergraduate incoming students of ATEI of Thessaloniki meet these standards. The aim of this study is to assess IL skills among undergraduate incoming students at the Alexander TE...

Eye-tracking technology provides valuable help to interdisciplinary collaboration between various domains, such as human-computer interaction, digital art and creative media, so as artistic creativity can be expressed and developed. In this paper we present (a) an overview of eye-tracking technology in art and (b) the first results of a digital art...

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), which is still at a very early stage, to identify its use worldwide including characteristic examples and research its potential applications in Cultural Heritage and Archaeology as a new field for study. In the first part of the paper a brief review of the fie...