Works

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

Territory of Monte Generoso, about 40,000 years ago. Here, the Neanderthal Man and the Cave Bear shared a cave, at what is now the border between Switzerland and Italy. The gigantic plantigrades, mostly herbivores, were among the most common inhabitants of the caves during the last ice age. Twice as large and heavier as today’s Grizzlies, with a mass much greater than even that of polar bears, they represented giants that were difficult to attack by any predator. The small Neanderthal tribes certainly must have feared these huge and dangerous animals, but, probably, they even tried to capture some armed only with courage and sticks with a flint point at the end.

All this – except for new impediments due to the health situation – starting from the last week of June 2021, we will no longer have to try to imagine it, but we will be able to relive it, thanks to an unprecedented Augmented Reality experience and special perfectly transparent multimedia glasses. capable of merging the real world with the 3D reconstructions of the past. A real time machine 4.0.

The natural scenery is also unique: the Generosa Cave (also known as the Bear’s Cave), a famous paleontological site visited every year by hundreds of hikers and still today a very active place of excavation and study by paleontologists of the State University of Milan, in Italian territory but only 30 minutes from the Swiss border on the top of Generoso. Here the remains of primitive plantigrades have been discovered and studied, alongside the evidence of human presence.

“Finally – says Mario Pozzi, mayor of the Municipality of Centro Valle d’Intelvi – after about 3 years of work, the possibility of making this reality known to the foreign and local public becomes concrete; in addition, the use of new technologies adds value to a site that, in itself, is already an important reference on a tourist-cultural level, both for the Italian and Swiss sides. At the end of June, due to the pandemic, the experiences will start to a lesser extent, with the hope that next year we can start at full capacity».

Already at the entrance to the Grotto, wearing the special intelligent multimedia glasses (smartglass) equipped with software that makes them able to recognize what the visitor is looking at and how they move in space, you will find yourself being transported to the bottom of the sea, in the ecosystem that occupied this territory millions of years ago and which today has left us extraordinary fossil deposits.

The journey through history will continue with the entrance to the Grotto, where with glasses it will be necessary to wear a protective helmet. Here, in the middle of the excavations, you can see the cave bears that really lived in the cave come back to life and whose remains are still exposed (a mother with her cubs). You can admire them up close while they eat, play, sleep – thanks to spectacular 3D reconstructions made by university researchers together with the project’s technological partner, ARtGlass (an Italian-American company leader in the field of Augmented Reality for tourism and culture). Finally, after leaving the cave, the visitor will meet a Neanderthal family intent on cooking and eating around a fire.

To create the experience, which will be available in 3 languages ​​(Italian, English and German), an interdisciplinary team was created, which saw paleontologists, geologists, archaeologists, Augmented Reality experts, 3D modelers and videomakers work side by side. In this sense, an important contribution was provided by the Paleontologist Fabio Bona, as well as Conservator of the Civic Museum of Fossils of Besano (VA) and Councilor of the Italian Paleontological Society, and by Professor Lucia Angiolini, President of the Italian Paleontological Society and Coordinator of the College Interdepartmental Didactic of Natural Sciences: «The researches and works carried out within the INTERREG VA project “SCOPRI” made it possible to make the visit to the Generosa Cave a unique experience. While on the one hand the scientific aspects of the site have been deepened and enhanced, on the other the creation of a new lighting system and the application of Augmented Reality technology, through the use of special Epson viewers, allow you to experience a engaging experience between bears and Pleistocene Neanderthals, in the evocative environment of the cave ».

The Grotto can be reached both from the summit of Monte Generoso (Swiss side) and from the Alpe d’Orimento (Italian side). To guide visitors through the natural paths and make them discover the magnificent mountain landscapes, experts from SUPSI (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Italian Switzerland) have developed an innovative mobile application that all visitors can download on their smartphones. Educational and information panels with QR code to download the app will be available along the way. “SUPSI is particularly proud to have led this project and to be able to demonstrate how new technologies can also be useful in the field of tourism promotion. From an initial idea that seemed difficult to realize, we are now happy to be able to revive the bears on Monte Generoso thanks to a smartphone application capable of providing information experiences based on augmented reality and facilitating the reservation and purchase of tickets required for guided tours in the cave in a digital and sustainable way, without resorting to paper tickets and cash payments ”, these are the words of Giacomo Poretti, Swiss leader, IT engineer and SUPSI researcher.

The experience is part of the Interreg project named with the acronym DISCOVER, whose lead partners are the Municipality of Centro Valle Intelvi for Italy and the SUPSI Information Systems and Networking Institute for Switzerland and which provides as partners are the Comunità Montana Lario Intelvese, the University of Milan, the Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio Tourism Organization and Ticino Turismo.

The strategic objective of the project is to introduce an exclusive element of innovation in the tourist offer of the Generoso able to make the visit unique and unforgettable, attracting international attention and enhancing a common geographical area, to encourage the tourist and economic development of the entire region. The project therefore intends to enhance the historical, cultural and naturalistic heritage of the Monte Generoso region through the networking of cross-border tourist itineraries promoted in an integrated way as “The Region to Discover”.

“With the Interreg SCOPRI Project – says the President of the Mountain Community Lario Intelvese, Ferruccio Rigola – our goal is to contribute to the development of the territory by increasing the presence of tourists through the enhancement of all the peculiarities of the Regional Forest of Monte Generoso: the Grotta dell ‘Orso, but also the laburnum forest, the remains of the trenches of the Cadorna Line, offering a new map of the wide path network of this cross-border area and the possibility of being able to finally return to taste our typical products at the main refreshment points on the Italian and Swiss fronts. We want to intrigue the tourist above all with the innovative ability to make the past visible: the visitor of the Grotta dell’Orso, through the special glasses, will be able to experience an augmented reality experience face to face with the extinct Cave Bear, thanks to the experience of ArtGlass, commissioned by the Mountain Authority. The visit of the tourist will be unique and unforgettable ».

With the same technology and always in collaboration with ARtGlass, the Swiss partners of the project had carried out, in 2018, the Augmented Reality visit of the medieval village of Tremona Castello, on the Swiss side, a historic site of great interest, today visited by thousands every year of visitors. Today, the time machine of this extraordinary tourist region is enriched with a new, unforgettable stage.

Nadia Fontana Lupi, Director of the Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio Regional Tourism Organization, says: “The OTR has always promoted visits to the Bear’s Cave, which for many years has included among the top 7 themes of attraction for the region . Monte Generoso is a very visited and appreciated tourist destination and its summit, for 130 years, has been easily reached by cogwheel train departing from Capolago. We are particularly happy to be able to propose again the visits inside the Grotta dell’Orso, enriched by the introduction of the experience with 3D glasses, which will allow us to take visitors to take a real leap into the past! This project also allows us to add a further piece to the communication project by enhancing the theme of augmented reality visits that we have been successfully proposing for some years to the Archaeological Park of Tremona, on Monte San Giorgio, and to enhance the theme of the experiential offer “.

News:

June – September 2021 The visits take place only in groups and accompanied by a specialized guide and last 30/40 minutes.
The temperature inside the cave is 10 degrees centigrade.
Groups of up to 12 people can visit the site from 10.00 to 16.30.
For minors there is an obligation to be accompanied by an adult.

For information:

https://progetti.interreg-italiasvizzera.eu/it/b/78/laregionedascoprire
https://www.mendrisiottoturismo.ch/

The resumption of activities for the Ugo Da Como Foundation is in the name of innovation. With an audience of over 170 guests, on Saturday 12 June all the innovations that the Foundation offers to its public were presented: the three Augmented Reality paths developed by ARt Glass (the Rocca, the Ornithological Museum, the House Museum), the Immersive Room by DCG Group and the restoration of the Galleria della Casa del Podestà. A unique place of culture and tourism becomes an integrated system of 4.0 tourism enjoyment.

These are the fruits of the intense work done by Ugo Da Como Foundation. Starting from the important restoration works of the Gallery which revealed and returned to the public three monumental frescoes depicting “Capitani di ventura” by Romanino. According to recent studies, these marvelous frescoes would be datable to the early sixteenth century and belong to the decorative cycle executed for the Castello degli Orsini di Ghedi. Along with this major restoration, the walls, books, fixtures and wooden furnishings were also restored, with the conservative cleaning of the terracotta floor and a new lighting system.

These works thus launch the new season of the Rocca and the Casa del Podestà where, now, past and future meet in every environment, with the new immersive room located in the basement of the sixteenth-century Casa del Capitano.

Inside the immersive room it is possible to become the protagonists of an emotional guided tour that allows the user to get to know and visit the spaces enhanced by the Foundation, in its extraordinary history and in the wonderful and varied territory that surrounds it. This experience tells in an interactive and highly engaging way the monumental complex (the Venetian Visconti fortress and its park, the “Casa del Podestà” Museum with the Library) and the landscape, thanks to spectacular images that envelop the user and immerse him, at 360 degrees, in the historical and landscape dimension. The storytelling of the immersive experience aims to give the user a real added value, providing historical information, notions of interest about the territory and the vicissitudes that have characterized it.

The second intervention, on the other hand, focuses on the use of Augmented Reality: the new visit experience in Augmented Reality uses wearable and user-friendly technologies created ad hoc to enhance the historical and cultural heritage by ARtGlass, leader in Italy in the sector and part of Capital Culture Group. Through an audio-video guide made with transparent Epson Moverio smartglasses customized with the Augmented Reality software owned and patented by ARtGlass, it is now possible to enrich the visit of the Rocca di Lonato, the “Gustavo Adolfo Carlotto” Ornithological Museum and the “Casa del Podestà “.

The structure of the three itineraries is of great interest, offering three different points of view to tell the history of the places: for the Rocca it is Isabella d’Este in person who accompanies the visitor; for the Casa del Podestà and the Library it is the voice of Ugo Da Como who leads – in a continuous game of exchange with the guide who accompanies the group – visitors to discover his collections; finally, for the Ornithological Museum, the documentary cut was privileged, to discover the fascinating world of Italian avifauna.

After a careful and detailed research activity, conducted by Capitale Cultura in coordination with the scientific team of the Ugo Da Como Foundation and the multimedia reconstruction experts, and carried out starting from the extraordinary library and iconographic heritage kept by the same institution, chosen the topics to be valued and communicated to the public.

Since 1931, the Verona Arena, the cultural heart of the city and a symbol of Italian excellence in the world, has returned value and richness, attracting spectators from all corners of the world, eager to experience the unique magic of opera at least once in their lifetime.

It has already been reiterated in every office that the Covid-19 pandemic, in the last year – and still in the current one – has profoundly affected the economy of our country and that the tourism sector is certainly among the most affected sectors.

Strengthened by this awareness, the Arena di Verona Foundation has worked tirelessly to confirm its role in the city’s economy: for this reason, despite the current situation and the climate of great uncertainty that involves Europe, the Arena Foundation has decided to the 2021 summer opera season on stage, confirming dates, titles and cast in full.

To accomplish this mission, the Arena di Verona Foundation has created an ambitious Fundraising and Corporate Membership project: 67 Columns for the Verona Arena.

The project, conceived by the marketing director of Fondazione Arena Andrea Compagnucci, was carried out in media partnership with the Athesis Group and with the support of Capitale Cultura Group in the field of Business Development, it involves individuals and companies in the ideal reconstruction of the outer wall of the arenian arches, destroyed in 1117 by a terrible earthquake.

This project, which is taking shape and taking shape thanks to the support of entrepreneurs and production companies from all over the territory, united by the love for the Arena, is at a time of great innovation for the Foundation, which has also launched a new project: Arena TV.

An innovative and exclusive online format that combines, in its programming, the streaming of the great Arena shows with new formats that intertwine culture, entertainment and excellence in the name of the Arena’s global brand.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

Capitale Cultura is carrying out two important tasks entrusted by the Municipality of Ravenna, which turned to the company for the performance of two enhancement and promotion services.

Together with the Tourism Service, Capitale Cultura takes care of the production of contents for the new digital tourism platform. The work is divided into the drafting of textual content that will populate the new website and the blog connected to it. Alongside this activity, thanks to the help of its partners, Capital Culture is also involved in producing photographic images and films.

The purpose of this project is to provide users with travel tips, experiences, ideas, points of view and information of tourist interest, in order to offer an exhaustive and efficient overview of Ravenna, as well as support the image of the splendid city of Romagna and support it as a welcoming tourist destination full of various opportunities.

Alongside this activity, the Audience Development team of Capitale Cultura supports the Office of Cultural Policies and Activities in the creation and management of a marketing plan and in the creation of digital content for the promotion of Dante’s celebrations.

The Celebrations of the 700th anniversary of the death of the Supreme Poet were opened on September 5, in Ravenna, by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. The demonstrations and events in honor of Dante Alighieri will take place throughout the peninsula but a great importance to this anniversary has been attributed by the city of Ravenna, where Dante spent his last years.
There will be many events on the calendar and the celebrations will last until September 2021 when, on Sunday 12, the maestro Riccardo Muti in Piazza San Francesco will greet the conclusion of the events dedicated to the father of the Italian language with a concert which, in the following days will also be performed in the other Dante cities, Florence and Verona.