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.