Inspired by history, we reveal Timișoara's digital stories, stimulate the interest of locals and tourists to see, hear and feel Timișoara's past, to co-create its future through the virtual overlap of intangible heritage, the passion that unites the participating generations of cultural heritage.
The App is Spotlight Timișoara augmented reality application on the interactive and is available here:
or it can be downloaded using the following QR-code:
The open, participatory mobile application contains:
- Landmarks - data and information of cultural and historical heritage, geographically mapped, photos and films, with recognition of buildings by augmented reality, 360 images.
- Memories - fragments from the novel Valeria dr. Pintea (author: Liana Maria Gomboșiu, Timișoara, Editura Marineasa, 2013) selected by Marius Cornea and offered by the author through the assignment of the rights to use them. Photos, documents, objects from the Liana Maria Gomboșiu collection - for the Iosefin neighborhood; fragments from the manuscript "Jurnal de familie" by Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu selected by Marius Cornea and offered by the authors through the assignment of the rights to use them. Photos, documents, objects from the collection of Prof. Dr. Pia Brânzeu - for the Elisabetin neighborhood. Personal histories of the residents interviewed by the team coordinated by prof. univ.dr. Smaranda Vultur, coordinator of the Oral History and Cultural Anthropology Group for the Fabric neighborhood. The selection of literary texts collected by prof. univ. dr. Smaranda Vultur and assistant univ. dr. Roxana Rogobete, the memories from the oral history of Timisoara capitalized by the Group of Oral History and Cultural Anthropology, the original poems, created for the Patrimony under Reflectoare Timisoara, by the Timisoara poet Robert Șerban. Photos, documents, objects from the collection of prof. univ. dr. Smaranda Vultur, Oral History and Cultural Anthropology Group for the Cetate neighborhood
- Community Information from the history of neighborhoods, communities, ethnicities, organizations that were or are present in the neighborhood
- Your Story Users can add their own personal stories, comments, photos, videos
- Events – exhibition events, guided tours offered with high school teenagers, theater performances and street dance, with the use of technology and elements of augmented reality, digital installations, as well as chemical demonstrations, which are carried out periodically, with the active involvement of students and citizens.
The National Museum Of Banat organizes the Exhibition ”Spotlight Heritage. The Iosefin Neighborhood and Valeria dr. Pintea - a novel in an exhibition”, November 8, 2019 – January 31, 2020
The National Museum Of Banat organizes the Exhibition "Spotlight Heritage. The Elisabetin neighbourhood and Netti Dr. Diel - A world in a chest", November 13, 2020 – January 31, 2021
The National Museum Of Banat organizes the Exhibition "Spotlight Heritage. TheCetate neighbourhood - A world in the mirror", July 5, 2022 – September 11, 2022
The mobile and augmented reality application is accessible on an interactive table and tablets within the exhibition at the National Museum of Banat and in the Technical Museum of the Polytechnic University of Timisoara.
The exhibition in the Iosefin neighborhood is located in the 16 landmarks and in addition at the Lloyd Palace and the National Museum of Banat, accompanied by pictures and video images, both current and old, and fragments of the personal histories of the inhabitants.
The exhibition in the Elisabetin neighborhood is located in the 16 landmarks and the National Museum of Banat, accompanied by pictures and video images, both current and old, and fragments of the personal histories of the inhabitants.
The exhibition in the Fabric district is located in the 23 landmarks and the National Museum of Banat, accompanied by pictures and video images, both current and old, and fragments of the personal histories of the inhabitants.
The exhibition in the Cetate neighborhood is located in the 24 landmarks and the National Museum of Banat, accompanied by pictures and video images, both current and old, and fragments of the personal histories of the inhabitants.
Navigating through augmented reality: 1. Situated in a certain location, you open the AR section. 2. You open the photo-video camera and in a corner of the screen, you see a pictogram with the facade of the building which the phone can recognize (to understand how to position yourself to the building). 3. Scanning that facade, you see an image of the old building overlayed on the one in front of you. In the map mode, with all the stations, you can change on AR mode, and you will see the stations around you and the distance to them.
The App is Spotlight Timișoara AR and is available here:
Interactive virtual tours and VR applications developed by international students
The winning applications contain virtual tours of the Roman Catholic Church "The Sacred Heart of Jesus" in Bălcescu Square (historic district of Elisabetin) and of the Millennium Roman Catholic Church in Trajan Square (historic district of Fabric), in a 3D virtual space, with 360 images, old and new pictures, audio elements, as well as information about the history and architecture of the buildings, the objects of art inside them (paintings, stained glass windows, organs inside the churches), but also about the historical characters who left their mark in the construction, design and development of Timișoara’s buildings. All of these elements are integrated into an interactive and unique VR application through which the user can explore churches through digital storytelling artefacts in virtual reality.
More details about the event here.
Among the MEDEA Awards 2022 finalists is the team that developed the interactive virtual reality application developed within the International Spotlight Heritage Student Contest 2021, submitted by the Politehnica University of Timișoara, Romania and represented by Silviu Vert & Marius Tătaru during the ceremony.
More details about the event here.
The applications can be downloaded and used on the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality glasses, but also on the Cospaces Edu web and mobile platform.
The digital and physical itineraries of the Iosefin (2019), Elisabetin (2020), Fabric (2021) and Cetate (2022) neighborhoods and reveal their stories through several layers: theater and street dance, with the use of technology and elements of augmented reality.
These events represent the implementation team's desire to innovate the way a city's history and built heritage are presented to the general public, in an attractive, artistic, dynamic manner, so as to facilitate cultural awareness and education, especially of younger generations, and to value multiculturalism, the diversity of ethnicity, architectural styles and historical paths by offering stories that deserve to be perpetuated and valued.
The theater and dance performances, captured in an AR multimedia experience, can be viewed below:
Spotlight Heritage Timișoara 2023 NFT Collection
To bring value to Timisoara's digital and cultural ecosystem and based on the previous experience, Politehnica University of Timisoara launches in February 2023, for the first time in the Romanian academic landscape, the NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) | Spotlight Heritage - Timisoara2023. The university initiated actions on the adoption of blockchain technologies in education and creative industries, in 2020, also as part of the "EBSI4RO: Connecting Romania through Blockchain" project, included in European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). These NFTs will be available for download only in 2023. More informationEBSI4RO: Connecting Romania through Blockchain”, included in European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), These NFT will only be available for download in 2023. Collect your own NFT here: https://nft.spotlight-timisoara.eu
