Interoperable multimedia mobile services in cultural heritage sites

According to the ancient Romans, “Delectare, docere, movere” are the goals of eloquence. To be accepted by museums, landscapes and archaeological sites, technology has to win the same challenge. Is technology unobtrusive enough to avoid compromising the emotional involvement that makes a visit to a cultural site unforgettable? Can it achieve a dissemination of the information in such a way that it is understood better? And how can technology be used to increase visibility and understanding of the numerous sites that are not yet able to attract the amount of people they deserve? This paper presents the authors’ vision on these questions, reporting on the activities carried out by the “mobile and ambient systems” work group of EPOCH as part of the CIMAD project. A central part of CIMAD is the creation of services for visitors and archaeological sites as well as making parts of the overall vision a reality. The CIMAD services are based around the MobiComp context infrastructure, enabling the services to exchange context information and information to be displayed to the user. As the EPOCH network is beginning to dissolve we will discuss possible next steps, associated risks and opportunities of continuing this project.