Augmented reality vacation, dinner with Neanderthals

Visit a cave from 40,000 years ago, ‘get to know’ the Neanderthal Man and also discover the Cave Bear in the territory of Monte Generoso, about 40,000 years ago. All thanks to the Interreg Discover project that allows you to relive, thanks to the use of augmented reality technology, the Italian-Swiss border at the time of Neanderthals and primitive bears. Giant plantigrades, mostly herbivores, were among the most common cave dwellers 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 enormous and dangerous animals, but, probably, they even tried to capture some armed only with courage and sticks with a flint point at the end. starting from the last week of June 2021, it will be possible to experience it thanks to an unprecedented Augmented Reality experience and to 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 summit 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 Centro Valle d’Intelvi Municipality – after about 3 years of work, the possibility of making this reality known to the foreign and local public becomes concrete; moreover, the use of new technologies adds value to a site that, in itself, is already an important reference in terms of tourism and culture, 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 created 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 realize the experience, which will be available in 3 languages ​​(Italian, English and German), a interdisciplinary team, which has seen 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 teaching of Natural Sciences: “The research and work carried out within the INTERREG VA” DISCOVER “project made it possible to make the visit to the Generosa Cave a unique experience. On the one hand, the scientific aspects of the site were deepened and enhanced , on the other hand, the creation of a new lighting system and the application of Augmented Reality technology, through the use of special Epson viewers, allow you to live an engaging experience between bears and Pleistocene Neanderthals, in the environment suggestive of the cave “. The cave 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, an innovative mobile application has been developed by the experts of the SUPSI (Professional University School of Italian Switzerland) 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 necessary 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 called DISCOVER, whose leader is the Municipality of Centro Valle Intelvi for Italy and the Information Systems and Networking Institute of SUPSI for Switzerland and which includes the Comun ità Montana Lario Intelvese, the University of Milan, the Mendrisiotto and Lower Ceresio Tourism Organization and Ticino Turismo.