=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2412/paper5
|storemode=property
|title=Kalamata 1821 “Roads Of Freedom”: Initial Efforts and Challenges
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2412/paper5.pdf
|volume=Vol-2412
|authors=Vasilis Poulopoulos,Angeliki Antoniou,Manolis Wallace,Vayia Panadiotidis,Nikos Zacharias
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/smap/PoulopoulosAWPZ19
}}
==Kalamata 1821 “Roads Of Freedom”: Initial Efforts and Challenges==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2412/paper5.pdf
Kalamata 1821 “Roads of Freedom”: initial efforts and
challenges
Vasilis Poulopoulos[0000-0003-1707-3153]2, Angeliki Antoniou1[0000-0002-3452-1168], Manolis
Wallace[0000-0002-4629-5946]2, Vayia Panadiotidis3 , Nikos Zacharias[0000-0002-6759-6721]3
1
Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Peloponnese, Tripolis,
Greece
2
Knowledge and Uncertainty Research Laboratory
Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of the Peloponnese, Tripoli,
Greece
3
Department of History, Archaeology and Cultural Resources, University of Peloponnese,
Kalamata, Greece
{vacilos, angelant, wallace, zacharias}@uop.gr, vayiap@gmail.com
Abstract. We present the main aspects of a new project dealing with Greek his-
tory of the early 19th century and the beginnings of the War of Independence.
The project has three main actions: 1) Creation of an historical documen-
tary/film, 2) Design, implementation, testing and releasing of new city tech-
nologies both for historical immersion and city exploration, 3) Establishment of
multiple cultural events preserving and enhancing the memory of residents and
visitors who will enjoy a different interactive journey of knowledge and experi-
ence. We discuss the main challenges in each action, as well as challenges in
Humanities (content creation, evaluation issues), Technology (diverse applica-
tions for indoor and outdoor use) and Business actions.
Keywords: Cultural heritage, Games, Apps, Tourism, City Branding
1 Kalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom
Wishing to commemorate 200 years from the beginning of the War of Independence,
the project “Kalamata 1821: Roads of Freedom” is being implemented within the
framework of the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and In-
novation” (Greek National Research Funds 2014-2020). Being the starting point of
the war of independence and thus of the establishment of the modern Greek State,
Kalamata is a central place of memory and associated with important events and fa-
mous historical figures. The aim is to study, highlight and interconnect all the indi-
vidual elements, historical, cultural and social that contributed to the beginning of the
war in Kalamata on March 23, 1821. Historical events and daily lives in the early 19th
century are studied in the wider region of Kalamata and Messinia, linking the past
with the present. The historical research will feed three main domains of action:
• Creation of a historical documentary/film
Cultural Informatics 2019, June 9, 2019, Larnaca, Cyprus
Copyright held by the authors.
2
• Design, implementation, testing and releasing of new city technologies both
for historical immersion and city exploration
• Establishment of multiple cultural events preserving and enhancing the
memory of residents and visitors who will enjoy a different interactive jour-
ney of knowledge and experience
The consortium consists of 3 partners: 1) The University of Peloponnese covers the
area of historical research and the creation of the necessary technologies. 2) The Pub-
lic Enterprise of the Municipality of Kalamata "FARIS" that is the official body of the
Municipality's policy in the fields of Culture, Social Solidarity, Training and Promo-
tion in Employment. FARIS will lead the multiple cultural events to take place in the
city of Kalamata. 3) The private company, View Master Films, responsible for the
production of the film/documentary. The project started in 2018 and will be com-
pleted in 2021.
2 Issues in Humanities
2.1 Historical truth
A very central and important event in modern Greek history like the one presented in
the project, implies that almost all (Greek) participants are familiar with the basic
ideas and the popularity of the theme is excepted. However, being so popular also
implies that the historical truth as perceived by the wider public is often intertwined
with legends and even misconceptions. In many cases, it is difficult to separate the
tradition, personal identities and beliefs from historical perceived truth [1]. The hu-
manities experts of the project wish to respect personal beliefs and meaning making,
but at the same time also have to be scientifically grounded and present the historical
evidences. In doing so, certain content or newer interpretations of events might be
contradicting to previously believed historical “truths” and personal viewpoints. Pro-
ject historians need not only to respect the scientific evidence but also need to find
ways to present it to the public. They carefully select material and topics to be pre-
sented and they will also work with largely unknown aspects of the war (possibly
implying less public misconceptions). This is an ongoing process in the project and
one of the main challenges to work with acceptance of historical evidence and per-
sonal beliefs [2].
2.2 Complex evaluation for the three actions
Being at the first year of works, the project has not yet completely clarified the way
the evaluation processes will take place. However, since there are three project ac-
tions planned, all three must be evaluated.
In particular, the film/documentary presenting different aspects of the War of Inde-
pendence will be evaluated in two dimensions. The first dimension includes the ev-
aluation from humanities experts that will access the historical evidence presented in
the film. Project humanities experts are involved from the initial stages of the film
creation and they have an active role in feeding film directors with accurate historical
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facts. In this light, there is a continuous evaluation process taking place, in order to
guarantee the historical accuracy of the presented material. The strong collaboration
between the film makers and the humanities experts allow little room for serious his-
torical mistakes, since historians are involved from the concept generation phase to
the scenario evaluation.
The second dimension has to do with the public acceptance of the film and the ev-
aluation of the viewers’ experiences, as well as the creative outcome of the produc-
tion. Although it is very difficult to access creativity in films [3] there are certain
indicators used by the film industry to evaluate films and especially their popularity,
such as critical reviews from experts, financial performance and popularity, awards
received [4]. All these, will be applied after the release of the film in 2021.
For the evaluation of the technologies created for the project, there are numerous
issues to be taken into account. The easiest to assess it the usability of the applications
and in fact, the project will use extensive usability testing to make sure that the out-
comes are highly usable by the wider public. Since many of the technologies are in-
dented to be used outdoors, extra caution will be taken to access risk factors, like
screen visibility under sun light, using the apps while mobile, environmental sound
levels, etc. In addition, the quality of the user experience needs to be further evaluated
and this will cover the engagement levels with the applications, the satisfaction and
emotion self reports, as well as the possibilities offered by the apps for intra and inter
group interaction and communication. Finally, a very important element to assess is
the educational character of the applications, since we are dealing with historical con-
cepts and events. The learning outcomes can be assessed in multiple levels from sim-
ple memorization of facts and comprehension of events, to analysis of complex his-
torical phenomena [5].
Furthermore, the project together with city policy makers will also have to evaluate
the cultural events designed and implemented. Popularity of the events is important,
together with market indicators like consumption rates in local market, increase to
tourists, etc.
3 Issues in Technology
There are different technologies being designed and implemented for the project. In
particular, there is a treasure hunt game in the city, a mobile guide and interactive
indoor technology to be used in the project’s physical exhibition space.
3.1 Treasure Hunt game
An entertaining and fun way to explore the historical centre of the city, get fa-
miliarized with central historical locations and concepts, is planned through the use of
a treasure hunt game. The game is designed as a mobile application and asks people
to find and capture specific city locations and historical objects, like statues, churches,
etc. As the user interacts and unlocks locations and objects, she wins points that she
can later use for discounts and offers in local shops and businesses, also targeting to
4
increase user motivation and to boost the local market. Figure 1 shows the initial
game screens.
Fig. 1. Initial game screens.
3.2 Mobile app
The mobile app, apart from the mobile game, it will also allow visitors to explore the
city and find out more about its rich historical past. Over the last 200 years the city
has changed significantly and expanded. Although the city suffered from catastrophic
earthquakes in 1986, which destroyed many of the historical buildings of the city,
there are still many examples of traditional architecture and historical buildings sur-
viving. There are three main phases in the expansion of the city historically. The first
one is before the 1823 war where the core of the city was found around the castle.
After the war, the city is expanded further and its centre is moved around the church
of the Apostles. After 1830 the city starts facing outwards and thus expands towards
the sea, establishing shipping and trading activity and port. These three main areas are
covered by the mobile app and allow relevant historical exploration (Figure 2).
Fig. 2. Areas covered in mobile app for city exploration.
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3.3 Interactive table
In one of the historical buildings, in the old town hall, the physical exhibition of the
project will be hosted. In this space, the visitor will have the opportunity to explore all
the content created for the project, including the film/documentary. The central ele-
ment in this space will be an interactive table, where different themes can be explored
further. The first theme supports the exploration of history through specific city loca-
tions (initial design shown in Figure3).
Fig. 3. History exploration through specific city locations.
The second theme, supports exploration through images. When the user chooses to
explore known images, she can access stories about these images and explore known
and unknown aspects of the war and the key historical figures (Figure 4).
Fig. 4. History exploration through images.
The final theme allows history exploration through story trees. The story trees
build historical episodes that can have multiple continuations depending on the user
interests. For example, hearing an episode one person might be interested to find out
more about one specific hero, whereas another might want to hear more about a battle
(Figure 5). This theme allows visitors to personalize their experience and access in-
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formation that is closer to their preferences and interests. This is performed by allow-
ing the users to control the flow of each story by selecting how to continue at the end
of each story.
Fig. 5. History exploration through story tress.
4 Issues in Exploitation
The project was initially designed to have a strong exploitation scheme and work both
as a tool to promote local history, but also as a way to enhance and support cultural
tourism. Past branding efforts made Kalamata known as a dance city, hosting an
international dance festival. The project is actively creating a new city brand name,
one to incorporate the historical past related to the war. The project aims at bringing
Kalamata to the centre of the 200-year national celebrations of the war of independ-
ence and attracting new city visitors. In close collaboration with the local community
and local businesses, the project logo will be placed in multiple locations in the city,
indicating participation to the project, like shops, restaurants, service providers, etc.
The project participants will have various benefits from the local businesses, like
discounts and offers. For example, after playing the Treasure Hunt game, the users
can collect badges that correspond to specific discounts at the participating city busi-
nesses. In this way, the project advertises local shops and services and in return it
ensures sustainability (the exact way and specific business plans remain to be ex-
plored further during the project). Figure 6 presents the project logo, as it is used by
the project and the participating businesses.
In one of the scenarios currently examined, the project shows the eating habits of
the early 19th century in the region and connects them to local products, thus fa-
miliarizing the wider public with the local cuisine and food production. Similarly,
different business scenarios are explored in order to represent the rich local traditions,
like production of silk, etc. The specificities of the daily life in 19th century as care-
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fully reviewed by humanities experts and are also reflected in the produced film (i.e.
specific details for clothes, food, tools, etc).
Fig. 6. Project logo and city branding logo.
5 Open Challenges
One of the project open challenges is the application of an extensive educational plan
targeting children of all school ages from the wider area of Kalamata and Messinia.
There are multiple educational activities planned like art competitions and co-creation
of art and content. The large scale of the involvement of the city children poses new
challenges in the way cultural heritage is brought to educational settings within the
framework of a specific project. The first educational programs have already started,
and we will soon be able to report from the extensive educational activities.
Furthermore, it is important to recognize the role of technology as a tool to examine
our past and our roots and utilize it in such a way in order not to distract from the
main scope of the project. Finally, the capturing and accuracy of the historical data
through the documentary that will be created within the scope of the project is of great
importance for the success of the project. Its scope should remain the provision of
historical data while in parallel being able to transmigrate the historical truth through
the extensive use of technology.
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quantitative comparison of the Oscars and six alternatives. Creativity Research Jour-
nal, 16(2-3), 163-172 (2004).
4. Simonton, D. K.: Cinematic success criteria and their predictors: The art and business of
the film industry. Psychology & marketing, 26(5), 400-420 (2009).
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