The Echoes project focused on the design and development of technological tools and methodologies for the creation and presentation of interactive content for visitors to cultural sites—particularly visitors to traditional settlements. It adopted the innovative methodology of experience reconstruction and leveraged cutting-edge technologies, with a special emphasis on 3D sound. Experience reconstruction was based on historical sources relating to life and significant events in the settlement’s past and used them as the foundation for building a narrative world with characters, plotlines, and events. This world, being both realistic and geographically anchored in the actual site, served as a means to revive the life of the settlement.
Visitors engage with this story world through a mobile application that goes beyond traditional audiovisual content, incorporating immersive technological applications like 3D sound and panoramic sketches. The overarching goal is to immerse visitors in a seamless experience where the content originates from the surrounding space rather than solely from their mobile devices.
Within the scope of the project, two pilot experiences were developed: one for the Old Town of Xanthi and one for the Historic Center of Athens. Their development served as a guide for creating general-purpose technological tools and methodologies that support the production and presentation of similar experiences in other sites of historical and cultural significance.
