3rd Immersive Learning Research Network Conference (iLRN2017)
June 26th – 29, 2017
Coimbra, Portugal, European Union

Special Track on Digital Heritage and the Immersive City

Overview
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The study of the city, as multifaceted and complex as it is, has gained recently a new dimension. The digital has permeated the former and has brought new possibilities and challenges to the scientific and academic community. Virtual Reality (VR) and immersive environments have dramatically changed the scope of historical research and its display. Augmented/Mixed Reality (AR / MR) techniques can be used to provide an in situ, contextualized and consequently richer experience. Cities that are long gone or have suffered profound changes are now presented as visual models open to interaction with different research experts and wide audiences, often in real time. The way information is presented and citizens are able to interact and explore these immersive environments are crucial issues. Documental sources are being collected and tested at a growing rate enabling the swift construction of working hypothesis encompassing the different aspects of cities through time and space. Historical data is no longer restricted to the analogical sphere, it became also digital in nature and it is able to reproduce and expand itself very quickly. This reality has raised technological, methodological and epistemological issues, which need to be addressed. In this context, the place of cultural heritage in the contemporary city is also being reexamined. Its value as a museum and tourism asset is also being questioned and reevaluated urging the redefinition of concepts as theme parks and interpretation centres. The memory of the past is being revisited as an embodied experience in a contemporary social context. The past has never been so present and so inextricably linked to the future.

This panel seeks papers that examine these topics from a technological point of view and / or from a methodological and philosophical standpoint. With regard to the latter, we are particularly interested in the role of the digital in the widening of human conscience by allowing the sensorial fruition of dimensions of the past that up until now only belonged to the sphere of ideas.

List of Topics
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We especially welcome papers that address (but are not necessarily limited to) the following topics:
The historic city as an immersive digital representation.
VR, AR and MR in Cultural Heritage and Digital Heritage.
Virtual exploration of historic spaces: techniques, methods and case studies.
Digital heritage and the concept of the theme park.
Digital Heritage and Tourism: challenges and impact.
Digital Heritage and City Museums.
Education for Cultural Heritage and Digital Heritage.
Digital Citizenship and the Knowledge City.

Author Info
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We invite scholars and experts in the fields of heritage studies, digital humanities, history, history of art and information technology to submit a short paper (6 -8 pages) describing their work-in-progress.

Selected papers from the main conference and special tracks will be published in the Springer Proceedings, and the rest of the accepted papers will be published in the online proceedings with a confirmed ISBN number/reference. Authors of the best papers will be invited to submit extended versions to the EAI Transactions on Emerging Technologies and Pedagogies for Education. Please note that best papers considered for Springer publication must qualify as full paper not exceeding 14 pages.

All papers (including papers selected for Springer publication, Online Proceedings and poster submissions) must follow Springer’s style guidelines. More information available at: https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2017/author_info/

All submissions will be evaluated taking into account the following criteria: appropriate content and relevance of the subject; clarity and objectivity of the proposal. Each submission will be judged according to a blind-review process by a Program Committee of experts.

Special Track Chairs
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Alexandra Gago da Câmara – Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Centre for Art History and Artistic Research (CHAIA) /University of Évora, Portugal
Helena Murteira – Centre for Art History and Artistic Research (CHAIA)/University of Évora, Portugal
Maria Leonor Botelho – CITCEM/Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, Portugal

Programme Committee (to be expanded)
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Jim (CS) Ang, School of Engineering and Digital Arts University of Kent, UK
Elizabeth Carvalho, Open University Lisbon, Portugal
Luís Magalhães, University of Minho, Portugal
Mauro Figueiredo, University of Algarve, Portugal
António Fernando Coelho, University of Porto, Portugal

Contact
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For more information, please contact Prof. Alexandra Gago da Câmara (agagodacamara@sapo.pt).