Keys to Rome

23 September 2014 - 23 March 2015

Alexandria, Egypt

Antiquities Museum, Bibliotheca Alexandrina

URL: Official website of the exhibition

On the 23 September 2014, after 2000 years from Augustus death, 13 countries will meet in Rome, Amsterdam, Alexandria and Sarajevo, for the opening of an extraordinary exhibition, Keys to Rome: an original interactive journey to discover the city of Augustus and the Roman Empire, seen and experienced from its four corners, four fascinating venues, four cities on Roman culture.

"Keys To Rome" is a unique international exhibition, that, for the first time ever, will be organized in parallel in four incredible locations: Rome, in the wonderful setting of the Imperial Fora Museum; Alexandria, in the amazing rooms of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; Amsterdam, in the recently renovated Allard Pierson Museum; and Sarajevo, in the newly restored City Hall.

"Keys to Rome" is organized by the largest European network of excellence on Virtual Museums, V-MUST. The Exhibition in Alexandria will be held at the Antiquities Museum of bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA; and coordinated by the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage, CULTNAT, which is one of the BA’s research centers.
In Alexandria, visitors can travel back in time to the Serapeum in the 2nd century and the harbor of Alexandria in the 3rd and 6th centuries AD. There they will find a stunning range of objects including a funerary mask, a papyrus of Homer, a gold ring, a statue of Harpocrates and many more. Playing the role of Marcus, they will discover stories of ancestors including the wealthy twin sisters Domitia and Minerva; the sculptor Maximianus and his son, Adrianus; the baker Daninos and his cousin, Senesius.

 

 

Keys To Rome Technologies

Introductory Video

Visitors to the four exhibitions will watch a video, made with post-production techniques such as 3D graphics and computer animation, as an introduction to the adventure game they will experience: they have to locate some key objects in order to discover the story of a merchant family and reconstruct the history of Rome. After the film, they will begin the visit to the museum and the exhibition.

Matrix App

Visitors will be able to download an app for their smartphones (Matrix) and will use one of the characters in the film as a special guide to the visit. They will be helped to find the objects in the Museum and to use them as an access portal to the other museums.

NISAR

An application of Natural Interaction (sensor LEAP). By pointing their fingers at an object, visitors can see more details and a possible reconstruction of it.

ADMOTUM

Admodum is a serious game based on natural interaction (sensor KINECT). Visitors use their bodies to explore 3D environments and visualize the objects seen in the exhibition in their original context. A new type of interaction that will link Admotum and Holobox, will be available in some of the locations.
HOLOBOX
Using the Holobox application visitors will be able to see high resolution 3D holographic images of the objects in all four museums. The visitors will have the opportunity to manipulate the objects using a natural interaction system.

All multimedia technologies used within the exhibition, are the result of a four-year joint cooperation between researchers and developers of the V-MUST project. “Keys To Rome” is the concrete result of this effort and it is posing itself as a prototype for the future, testifying the success of V-MUST. Its aim was indeed to provide the heritage sector with the tools and support to develop Virtual Museums that are educational, enjoyable, long-lasting and easy to maintain.