Extended Matrix Narratives: teaching and engaging through the past

Paola Frigerio, Caterina Previato, Emanuel Demetrescu

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.2, 177-186; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.2.2024.19

Abstract

Digital reconstructions for valorization projects are becoming increasingly popular and the creation of narratives that catches the user’s attention and instigates their curiosity is the key to edutainment. However, as shown by interviews and related work, there is still a lack of a working methodology for a balanced and fruitful collaboration between academia and creative industries. Even though this work is still in its early stages, in this paper we propose a methodology for bridging the gap between academia and creative industries through the development of the Extended Matrix Narratives (EMN) tool. It allows academics and creative people to construct narratives, characters, dialogues, and scenes in a schematic way, helping to ensure that the virtual reconstruction is both accurate and engaging for the target audience. The main step is to compile a dossier documentative, a collection of all the information that may be necessary for the creation of context, setting, narrative, or characters. This document provides a solid scientific basis for the final product and helps to direct the creative team. The result is a narrative that is both accurate and engaging, and that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as education, entertainment, and cultural heritage preservation.

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