Baths at Fuorigrotta

Sustainable, Virtual and Augmented Archaeology 2.0

Jan Herder

Presented for the Naples 2.0Competition, September 23, 2011

21st Century Learning Community

The baths were the center of the social world for the Romans.  These community centers supported a vital and thriving networking and entrepreneurial venue.  By imagining and recreating the Baths as the center of a Learning Community, we can create a resource for accessibility, continued excavation, preservation, restoration and the sustainability of the Baths, using the Stewardship model. This is accomplished by giving students the chance to nurture 21st Century Literacy’s, an appreciation and deep knowledge of local heritage and culture, hands-on and business management experience.  Transformed by web 2.0, the Baths are more accessible and provide a source of opportunity and income to sustain them and make them relevant again.  By combining social media, virtual worlds and augmented reality, the Baths become the focal point of a Learning Community.

Community Supported Conservation

The Baths at Fuorigrotta Community Project approaches the challenge with the guidance of community supported conservation, applied using the social business model and emerging technologies.

The Innovation here, is that we develop a social media ecosystem with an archaeological site-- the virtual site sustains the actual site.  By engaging the local community we follow the stewardship model of conservation, where students become interns and interns then become Stewards of the site. This model develops leadership skills and reciprocal apprenticeships.

Projeto Tamar in Brazil is an excellent example of community supported conservation and stewardship.

The ecosystem would look like this:

The stories and activities of the group form the foundation for creating User Generated Content developing ePortfolios and Personal Learning Networks for the participants professional development: Competitions, blogs, research, events, videos, travels and discoveries are an engine of content creation and connectivity.

•Solar panel and system•Computer station•LED Lighting

The Ecologically Sustainable Visitor’s Center

•Herbal garden grey water system•Composting toilet•Virtual Reconstruction of the Baths

The Ecologically Sustainable Visitor’s Center is also an Educational and Entrepreneurial Center: using stone work and masonry similar to the techniques the baths were constructed with, a small visitors center is built.  It has renewable and ecological design elements that place it in the 21st Century.  It contains a solar array to provide power, staffed by student Interns, with information, some souvenirs for sale and a small restroom with a composting toilet.  A visitor would enter to see a variety of displays, a computer screen, where they could explore the virtual world reconstruction of the site.

Water Solutions •A composting toilet

•Water from the rain is collected in a cistern

•A grey water system that reuses sink water for the herb garden

Herb Garden

Cistern

Water and Septic do not have to be problem with the use of a composting toilet.  A grey water system, drawing water from a cistern, washes your hands and then drains to grow an herb garden.  These same herbs were used for bathing in Roman times.  The Visitor’s Center Calendar of Events would feature a lecture demonstration about the use of these herbs by the Romans for bathing.  An intimate event beside the protected site, LEDs provide dramatic lighting.  The event would be video taped and accompanied by social media.  This content would in turn be added to the educational guides. The herbs grown by the grey water from the Visitors Center are then sold as potpourris to visitors to the site to help support the project.  Many educational and topical videos could be made this way and would contribute to the Bath Project YouTube Channel or occasional live on line broadcasts and other parts of the media ecosystem.

A variety of earned income strategies are employed to sustain the project:

• Sponsors• Members• Donations• Educational Guides and tours (in

Person and Virtual)• Souvenir Guides (on site or on line)• Souvenirs: herbs, t-shirts (GAN Logo,

mosaics, etc.)• Events• Contests• And online marketing strategies such

as Google Adsense

Competitions

A key component is the use of design competitions, a powerful creative economy technique--as Naples 2.0 clearly demonstrates-- competitions would be employed consistently throughout the project.  These design projects involve nurturing creativity using Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Artistic skills.Here are Some examples: A competition for the tent and walkway, focused on local university engineering and design students, providing protection to the site for visitors and archaeologists working below.

Competitions

An imaginative recreation competition of the working baths in the virtual world

Competitions

A solar energy system and lighting design contest that provided adequate power for dramatic night lighting and the modest energy uses at the Visitor’s Center.

Competitions

A fresco and mosaic design and installation contest for the walls and floor of the Visitors Center by local students, all guided by archaeological accuracy.

Baths SimulationUsing a virtual world, participants reconstruct the baths and bring them to life, allowing visiting avatars to immerse themselves and tour the site.  There are rich opportunities for role playing and dramatic recreation where students become attendants, customers or the bath’s Roman owner.  Sounds, textures, clothing, frescoes, etc. are recreated and visitors can experience life in the baths.

Deep content is embedded in the virtual world for educational visits from schools. This content is transferred to augmented reality apps for smart phones for visitors to Naples. A comprehensive educational guide is developed for sale both at the baths as a souvenir and for visitors on line.

I am inspired by the Baths as community center, the gathering spot, a Hub of activity, with the local community their Steward. By combining social media and emerging technologies with an ecologically sustainable Visitor’s Center, the Baths will once again become a vital and relevant resource for the community and generations to come--Thank you!