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{{Paper
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|title=i-Treasure and Intangible Cultural Heritage Education
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1336/paper4.pdf
|volume=Vol-1336
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==i-Treasure and Intangible Cultural Heritage Education==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1336/paper4.pdf
i-Treasures and Intangible Cultural Heritage
Education
Francesca Pozzi, Francesca Dagnino, Michela Ott and Alessandra Antonaci
Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche CNR
antonaci@itd.cnr.it
Abstract The paper draws on the i-Treasures project, an Integrated
Project co-financed by EU under the ICT theme (Information and
Communication Technologies) of the FP7 (7th Framework
Program), which deals with the use of advanced ICT technologies
in the field of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) education. The
project aims at going far beyond the mere ICT-enhanced
dissemination; rather it is meant to support the learning and passing
down of the rare know-how behind the various ICHs by means of
cutting edge ICT and sensor technologies. In doing so, it focuses on
four use cases: a) Rare Traditional Songs, b) Rare Dance
Interactions, c) Traditional Craftsmanship and d) Contemporary
Music Composition. An open and extendable platform is being
developed, which provides access to rare ICH resources and offers a
dedicated Learning Management System, able to sustain innovative
teaching and learning practices in ICH education.
1 Intangible Cultural Heritage and its transmission
In this paper, we deal with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and its
transmission and, in particular, we look at the innovative tools and
methodologies adopted within the EU project i-Treasures to sustain their passing
down to new generations.
Intangible Cultural Heritage is defined by UNESCO as “the practices,
representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments,
objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities,
groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural
heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to
generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to
their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides
them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural
diversity and human creativity”.
Following the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible
Heritage [UNE03], even the protection of cultural traditions has become
prominent at international level, as these are considered threatened by processes
of globalization. EU actions in this direction have been recently intensified
taking into account the fact that, at present, safeguarding activities sensibly vary
according to local and national contexts [Ali12].
While recognizing the importance and the artistic, social and cultural value of
local artistic expressions, UNESCO also highlights the urgent need for
preserving/safeguarding them. This implies adopting “measures aimed at
ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, including the
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identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion,
enhancement, transmission, particularly through formal and non-formal
education, as well as the revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage”.
UNESCO has also produced two documents mapping intangible cultural
expressions in the world: 1) The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity and 2) The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of
Urgent Safeguarding, the latter one including those cultural form that require
urgent measures to keep them alive.
Thus, the two lists are international inventories of traditional expressions
following the five domains of intangible heritage defined in the 2003
Convention, namely:
a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the
intangible cultural heritage;
b) performing arts;
c) social practices, rituals and festive events;
d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
e) traditional craftsmanship.
Both lists are accessible online1 and include photographs and audiovisual
recordings of the cultural expressions. The primary function of these lists is that
of an archival resource to raise awareness about the listed expressions and their
communities.
Among these cultural expressions considered as Intangible Cultural Heritage the
i-Treasures project, which is an example of the EU efforts to sustain and
promote innovative research in the field, focuses on rare traditional songs and
dances, traditional pottery manufacturing and on a modern emerging practice,
commonly defined as “contemporary music composition” (Figure1).
Figure1. Images from the four i-Treasures use cases: Sardinian Cantu a Tenore;
Rumenian Calus dance, greek pottery, contemporary music composition
As already mentioned, so far the transmission of these important cultural
expressions to next generations is mainly based on oral transmission and/or
personal contacts between skilled performers/artists and learners [ADO+13]. The
1
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00011
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“use cases” of songs, dances, pottery craftsmanship and contemporary music
composition are being adopted in the i-Treasures project to test and exemplify
how cutting edge technologies (both ICT and sensor technologies) can
contribute to preserve the rare know-how behind these ICH expressions, and
possibly foster innovative teaching and learning practices.
2 The i-Treasures project and the innovative tools to sustain
ICH education
The i-Treasures project is an Integrated Project co-financed by EU under the
ICT theme (Information and Communication Technologies) of the FP7 (7th
Framework Program). i-Treasures has started in February 2013 and will last
until 2017. It involves 12 partners from 7 countries with different expertise and
different backgrounds including computer scientists, educational technologists,
anthropologists, medical doctors, and physiologists.
It builds on current developments in the field, with the aim of identifying and
devising new appropriate technological tools and defining suitable methods for
the safeguarding and transmission of ICHs; in doing so it is also meant to apply
participatory methodologies in public engagement of local communities. The
idea is to empower local actors to use new technologies in the transmission and
dissemination of intangible heritage expressions for the benefit of sustainable
community development. To this end, the project aims to establish strong
connections with local actors and community representatives and include local
stakeholders in major phases of the development and use of the online platform.
One of the main assumptions of the project is that although modern technologies
should not replace human interactions in the transmission of intangible heritage,
but they can contribute significantly to processes of dissemination, especially
among younger generations. For this reason, a particular focus of the project is
the final development of territorial schools that will act as local hubs for the
transmission of local intangible heritage expressions, by relying on the methods
and tools developed in the framework of the project itself.
As said above, the project concentrates on four “use cases”. Each use case is
further instantiated in different “sub-use cases” which actually are the real,
concrete ICHs that are considered and studied within the project and for which
suitable modalities and tools are devised and tested.
Table 1 contains the list of the specific sub-use cases tackled in the project:
Use Case Sub Use case Country
Byzantine music Greece
SINGING
Cantu in Paghjella Corse-France
RARE
Canto a Tenore Sardinia- Italy
Human Beat Box Worldwide
Căluş dance Romania
DANCING
RARE
Tsamiko Greek dance Greece
Walloon traditional dance Belgium
Contemporary dance Worldwide
The art of pottery Greece France
CRAFTS
MAN-
SHIP
Turkey
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Use Case Sub Use case Country
Based on music patterns Worldwide
CONTEMPORARY
COMPOSITION
of Beethoven Haydn or
Mozart
MUSIC
Table 1 - List of the ICHs considered in the project.
2.1 Setting up the knowledge base: technologies and methods
The ultimate tangible outcome of the i-Treasures project will be: “an open and
extendable platform providing access to ICH resources, enabling knowledge
exchange between researchers and contributing to the transmission of rare
know-how from Living Human Treasures to apprentices”2.
Different steps are being followed in order to develop the above platform.
As first step relevant and detailed information on the different artistic
expressions recognized as ICHs are obtained from skilled performers, experts
and researchers.
This step mainly entails an accurate and detailed definition of users and system
requirements [PAD+14] allowing from the one hand to have a clear picture of
each single ICH and from the other hand to define what the system will do.
As a second step, based on the identified requirements, key aspects and features
of the considered ICHs are “captured” by using advanced ICT and sensor
technologies.
In particular this step will entail capturing any relevant performer’s posture and
movements (especially: total body, feet, leg, hand and fingers, vocal tract, gaze,
face, etc.), capturing sounds (through recordings, etc.), capturing contextual
conditions (i.e., accessories and tools of any kind used by the performer),
capturing any interactions with others, capturing single roles, single styles, and
detect synchronization aspects (among performers, among different ‘actions’ by
the same performer, etc.).
To do this, the system will need to include a variety of sensors, including:
optical sensors, depth sensors, inertial sensors, electroglottographs sensors
(EGG), electroencephalograms sensors (EEG), ultrasound sensors and other
sensors (such as for example piezoelectric accelerometer, universal breathing
belt, etc.).
As examples, regarding the rare singing use case:
a) facial expression analysis technologies could enable the detailed recording
of the singers’ expressions and singing techniques;
b) EEG analysis could provide information about the performers’ emotional
state;
c) vocal tract sensing technologies could be used to document the various
changes of the vocal tract during the performance;
d) motion capture technologies could give an indication of the performers’
body movements;
e) acoustic tools, such as spectrograms or the Text-to-Song tool could give
additional information about acoustics.
2
www.i-treasures.eu
21
With respect to the case of dance:
a) motion capture technologies can provide a detailed representation of the
movements of the human body in performance, bringing new insights to
motional and gestural aspects whose examination is not always possible due
to complex outfits and costumes;
b) facial expression analysis can contribute to the examination of the
emotional state of the dancers when performing.
Similarly, regarding the case of craftsmanship and pottery, motion capture tools
can be used again for the detailed documentation of hand and finger movements
during the creation process.
Concerning contemporary music composition, technologies such as motion
capture tools and EEG could potentially provide combined information on
movements and emotional conditions.
As third step, a thorough process of modeling the data available will be carried
out, by relying on advanced Semantic Multimedia Analysis techniques. This
will enable the combination of different levels of information and data, for
documentation and subsequent use in learning and training activities.
The available data will thus give life to a knowledge base containing a wealth of
information never available before; this will allow shaping a variety of different
teaching/learning paths, serving different scopes and specific educational needs,
all aimed at contributing to the transmission of these peculiar artistic and
cultural expressions. Besides, further research could be conducted on these data,
thus opening the doors to the discovery of new peculiarities characterizing these
undisclosed domains.
In a broader view, the combination of all the mentioned technologies will
contribute significantly to the documentation of the rare knowledge behind each
ICH, to its dissemination and to the enactment of a novel approach to its
safeguarding, based on ICT- enhanced education, specific training and advanced
pedagogical interaction.
2.2 Educational assets: technologies and approaches
The ultimate outcome of the project will be an innovative educational platform,
which will allow accessing both the available dedicated contents and the
envisaged, specific learning processes.
The platform is meant to guarantee access to data and relevant information
concerning the ICHs. This means that the system will allow the storage of multi-
media information (video, audio, images, text, etc.) and provide adequate and
multi-searching functionalities to allow easy retrieval of this information. It will
also guarantee multilingual and universal access facilities.
As to the learning process, it is expected to take the learners beyond the so far
adopted strategy of “learning by imitation”. The learners will be exposed to
multi-modal and multi-sensory learning experiences; they will be enabled to
carry out individual trials and receiving appropriate feedback, so to reach
increased levels of competence in an easier, more direct, quicker and effective
way”.
The educational processes to be conducted through the platform and the LMS
(Learning Management System) will be grounded on specific ‘educational
scenarios’ and will also rely on an innovative 3D sensorimotor learning module,
able to support users to learn, practice and master one specific ICH.
The i-Treasures educational scenarios, available through the dedicated LMS will
be designed by means of an ad hoc online tool called “Pedagogical Planner”
which supports the design, construction, delivery and the online sharing of
structured pedagogical plans [OBE+10].
22
On the basis of each pedagogical plan specific “educational scenarios” will be
built, that will be then delivered through the Learning Management System.
The 3D sensorimotor learning module main functionalities can be summarized
as follows:
a) The system by means of a virtual instructor gives instructions and briefly
shows what to do.
b) The user wears the sensors, starts practicing the ICH and the sensors
‘capture’ her/his performance.
c) The module visualizes the user’s performance.
d) The module compares the user’s performance with the expert’s
performance.
e) The module provides both auditory and visual feedback. In particular, as far
as auditory feedback is concerned, a noiser sound or a louder high harmonic
can be used, depending on how close is the performance of the learner
compared to the one of the experts. Colocalization can be used as main
visual feedback (i.e. superimposition on the ultrasound video of the expert
and of the learner).
Figure 2. Example of the 3D sensorimotor learning affordances related to the
specific ICH craftsmanship-pottery (aspects of instructions- left part and user’s
inputs- right part)
3 Conclusions
We have drafted some of the main features of the i-Treasures project as an
example of how new technologies and in particular new sensor technologies can
apply to the field of Cultural Heritage safeguarding and education.
These new approaches represent a step forward with respect to the employment
of traditional ICT-related techniques [OP11] and open new ways for supporting
teaching and learning processes of artistic and cultural living intangible
expressions.
References
[Ali12] Alivizatou, M., 2012. The Paradoxes of Intangible Heritage.
In: Stefano, M. et al. (Eds.) Touching the Intangible.
Heritage Matters Series. London: Boydell & Brewer, 9-22.
[ADO+13] Antonaci, A., Dagnino, F., Ott, M., Pozzi, F., Bravi, P.,
Lutzu, M., Pilosu, S., 2013. Digital technology and
transmission of Intangible Cultural Heritage: the case of
Cantu a Tenore proceedings 2013 DIGITAL HERITAGE
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS IEEE Computer Society,
Los Alamitos [CA] USA
23
[OBE+10] Olimpo, G., Bottino, R. M., Earp, J., Ott, M., Pozzi, F., and
Tavella, M., 2010. Pedagogical Plans as Communication
Oriented Objects. Computers & Education, 55(2), 476-488.
[OP11] Ott, M., and Pozzi, F., 2011. Towards a new era for Cultural
Heritage Education: Discussing the role of ICT. Computers
in Human Behavior, 27(4), 1365-1371.
[PAD+14] Pozzi, F., Antonaci, A., Dagnino, F.M., Ott, M. & Tavella,
M., 2014. A Participatory Approach to Define User
Requirements of a Platform for Intangible Cultural Heritage
Education. In: Sebastiano Battiato, Josè Braz (Eds.),
VISAPP 2014: 9th International Conference on Computer
Vision Theory and Applications, 5-8 January 2014, Lisbon,
Portugal, Vol. 2, 782-788. SCITEPRESS - Science and
Technology Publications.
[UNE03] UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage 2003 Paris, 17 October 2003 Retrieved
24/01/2014 at http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-
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