Culturama Platform
European Cultural Heritage Digital Toolkit
"Help my institution digitise responsibly, not experimentally."
The responsible digitisation challenge
European cultural heritage institutions (museums, archives, libraries, heritage sites) face pressure to digitise collections for preservation, research access, and public engagement. Yet digitisation carries risks: inappropriate methodologies damage fragile artifacts, inadequate metadata loses contextual meaning, proprietary formats create vendor lock-in, and experimental technologies waste limited conservation budgets.
Research demonstrates that high-fidelity digitisation with semantic metadata preservation enables 95% asset documentation fidelity whilst reducing long-term conservation costs by 62%. Yet heritage institutions lack standardised methodologies, validated workflows, and interoperable tooling enabling cross-institutional collaboration.
Culturama addresses this challenge: providing Europe's shared toolkit for conservation-compliant digitisation with validated methodologies, semantic metadata standards, knowledge graph infrastructure for data federation, and accessible XR viewing experiences. Institutions digitise responsibly using proven approaches, not experimental technologies.
Key capabilities
Culturama delivers five core capabilities enabling responsible heritage digitisation at institutional scale.
Conservation-compliant 3D capture
Validated photogrammetry workflows minimising handling and light exposure. Smartphone-based capture reducing equipment costs by 87%. Structured light scanning for sub-millimetre accuracy. Integration with conservation documentation standards.
Semantic metadata standards
Knowledge graph schemas for cultural heritage data. Alignment with CIDOC-CRM, Dublin Core, and Europeana Data Model. Linked data standards (RDF, OWL) enabling interoperability. Multi-lingual metadata support.
Knowledge graph infrastructure
Cross-institutional data federation without centralised control. Semantic queries across distributed collections. Relationship discovery between artifacts, artists, periods, and locations. SPARQL endpoints for researcher access.
Accessible XR viewing
Web-based 3D model viewing without app downloads. AR experiences for mobile devices. VR gallery experiences for immersive engagement. Accessibility features: audio descriptions, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility.
Validated methodology repository
Shared repository of validated digitisation workflows. Capture methodologies peer-reviewed by conservation experts. Quality assessment criteria and checklists. Lessons learned from institutional deployments.
Community knowledge sharing
Forums for heritage professionals sharing expertise. Collaborative tool development. Open-source components where possible. Training materials and certification pathways through XR Ireland.
Deployment and use cases
Culturama is deployed across museums, archives, heritage sites, and cultural institutions for preservation, research access, and public engagement.
Museum and gallery digitisation
3D capture of artifacts, paintings, and sculptures. Semantic cataloguing with rich metadata. Virtual exhibition curation. Accessible online collections. Researcher access with granular permissions.
Archive preservation
Document digitisation with OCR and semantic annotation. Manuscript preservation and transcription workflows. Audio-visual archive processing. Preservation metadata for conservation tracking.
Heritage site documentation
Photogrammetry for buildings and archaeological sites. Drone capture integration for large-scale sites. Change detection for conservation monitoring. Virtual tours and immersive experiences for public access.
Cultural XR experiences
AR-enhanced museum exhibits. VR reconstructions of lost or inaccessible heritage. Mixed reality storytelling experiences. Educational content for schools and researchers. Managed through XR Ireland capacity-building programmes.
Technology architecture
Culturama leverages semantic data infrastructure, immersive technologies, and federated knowledge graph architecture deployed on 1Cluster.
Semantic heritage data
Knowledge graphs using CIDOC-CRM and Europeana Data Model. RDF triple stores for institutional collections. Linked data principles enabling cross-institutional queries.
Immersive viewing
WebXR standards for browser-based 3D viewing. glTF asset format for interoperability. Progressive enhancement: works on all devices from smartphones to VR headsets.
Infrastructure foundation
EU-sovereign hosting through 1Cluster. GDPR-compliant data handling. Federated architecture: institutions retain data sovereignty. Scalable storage for high-resolution 3D assets.
Standards and interoperability
Culturama implements cultural heritage standards ensuring interoperability, preservation quality, and research accessibility.
Heritage metadata standards
- CIDOC-CRM (Conceptual Reference Model)
- Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
- Europeana Data Model (EDM)
- LIDO (Lightweight Information Describing Objects)
3D asset standards
- glTF 2.0 (GL Transmission Format)
- USD (Universal Scene Description)
- X3D for web-based 3D
- IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework)
Semantic web standards
- RDF (Resource Description Framework)
- OWL (Web Ontology Language)
- SPARQL query language
- Linked Data Platform (LDP)
Responsible heritage digitisation with validated methodologies
Culturama provides conservation-compliant digitisation workflows, semantic metadata standards, and accessible XR viewing experiences enabling institutions to preserve and share cultural heritage responsibly.