This event, organised by the ICOMOS-UK Digital Technology Committee explored best practices, challenges, and opportunities for using digital technologies to interpret and present tangible and intangible heritage.

The event was chaired by Tarek Teba, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Heritage at the School of Architecture, the University of Portsmouth, and Chair of ICOMOS-UK’s Digital Technology Committee.

About this Roundtable:

The rapid development of digital technologies and their implementation inthe  cultural heritage context has raised many arguments regarding the effectiveness of digital technologies in aidingusers’s and visitors’ engagement with heritage values and interpretations. The development of immersive experience, VR, AR, MR, has on the one hand brought to light great opportunities to unveil hidden heritage assets and engage people of different needs with heritage. On the other hand,  it has raised key concerns regarding the authentic experience and physical engagement with heritage, in addition to the concern that these new tools could compromise the audience’s appetite to visit and experience historic sites, particularly the younger generation.

Therefore, ICOMOS-UK Digital Technology Committee organised its 1st round table discussion with experts and researchers to explore these issues and the wider role of Digital technologies in visitor engagement with cultural heritage. The discussion explores opportunities, challenges, and ethical concerns linked to these practices.