Sustainable Innovation Meets the Barracco Museum!
Starting from January 6th, ancient art will meet sustainable innovation with the new LiFi project: a new way to experience art, a visit guided by light.
The Li-Fi project, which was promoted by Roma culture, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, will bring Li-Fi to Museums: sustainable innovation will land at the Barracco Museum in Rome, with a cutting-edge visitor experience thanks to wireless technology. This project was implemented and presented by To Be Srl, DB Ingegneria dell’immagine Srl and Tecno Electric Srl and with the support of the European Union.
The project was one of the 43 winners out of a total of 126 participants of the Contest POR FESR 2014-2020 “L’Impresa fa Cultura”. This contest was promoted by Regione Lazio to enhance our cultural heritage through innovation.
The Barracco Museum is one of the first museums worldwide to implement LiFi, which stands for Light Fidelity. It is an innovative and advanced communication system that allows wireless data transmission thanks to LED light sources. This data is received by visitors through their mobile devices with a camera. To enjoy the additional content related to the art exhibition, visitors will simply download the specific app and will position their device under the LED light source.
"We founded To Be because we had a dream and a vision: to imagine a world where every light source can transmit data. This is our idea for LiFi Revolution. LiFi is a technology that allows data transmission in a fast, sustainable, and safe manner. During these first years at To Be, we implemented several projects in so many different fields thanks to the unique features and flexibility of this cutting-edge technology.”
Francesco Paolo Russo, CEO & Founder of To Be
Introducing the Project
The project was presented on January 5th, 2022, on the occasion of the press release that took place at the Barracco Museum, and that was moderated by Mr. Gianni Todini, Askanews director. After the greetings by Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, several speakers intervened: Roberto Pollari, Head of the Cabinet of the Regional Council President Regione Lazio; Francesco Paolo Russo, Founder and CEO of To Be srl; Giancarlo Brasini, Project Manager DB Ingegneria dell’Immagine; Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, President of Fondazione Univerde; Gabriele Ferreri,President of ANGI- National Association of Young Innovators.
The implementation of the project involved 14 selected points of interest. 9 of these are located in the rooms of the ground floor and the first floor, while the other 5 points are located in the ancient Roman House, its first structures dating back to the IV century A.D. The Roman House is located in the museum's undergrounds, which will be reopened to the public on the occasion of this project, after being closed for more than 20 years. The accidental discovery of the ruins in the undergrounds can be traced back to 1899. They were brought to the surface during the demolition of the Renaissance buildings to implement a new road axis in Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
In addition, the Domus, which has been closed to the public since 2000, will be extraordinarily opened every day (only closed on Monday) until January 9th, and, following, it will be open until the end of February on the weekend, from Friday to Sunday. The temporary reopening of the Domus, related to the LiFi project, represents the first step towards a complex and important journey to enhance the exhibition that will be developed in the next months.
This technology will be experimented with at the Barracco Museum until February 20th, 2022, with the possibility of being extended.
To learn more about LiFi, read here.
If you are interested in bringing LiFi to your school or to your children's school, contact us.
Art and LiFi: Light comes to the Barracco Museum!
The Museum of Ancient Sculpture, “Giovanni Barracco”, is one of the first worldwide to implement LiFi to enhance its exhibition.
We share a mission with the Barracco Museum: to enrich visitors' experience by combining the physical and digital, highlighting the great value of our cultural heritage.
The project, co-funded by the European Union, will bring a new visiting experience thanks to the implementation of several LiFi light sources. Each lamp will generate a LiFi Zone through light modulation, to which will correspond a unique associated code. Thanks to a specific app, art-related content will be directly available on the user's smartphone.
The Museum
The Barracco Museum's exhibition has been located in the beautiful, XVI-century "Farnesina ai Baullari” building since 1948. Baron Barracco’s collection includes 380 pieces from the Egyptian and Sumerian. Greek, Etruscan and Roman arts. In 1902, this collection was donated to the city of Rome.
In 1899, in the museum’s undergrounds, ruins of an ancient Roman Domus were accidentally discovered, dated to the IV century. This is a brief description:
“A partially-preserved columned portico realized with reused materials was discovered (it can be noticed how the three Tuscan capitals were turned upside down and used as foundations). The pavement’s fragments reveal several construction phases: they show an ancient, first layer, made with rectangular, marble slabs. This layer is older than the portico and still shows proof of ancient restoration works. Walls were decorated with frescoes that depicted both terrestrial and marine species. These frescoes were separated from the walls in the 70s and they are currently stored in the Museum. The most reliable theories associate these underground structures with a public building of Campus Martius (the stabula quattuor factionum used by four equestrian factions that competed in Rome). It is believed that in following years this area became private and was turned into a noble mansion."
Source: sito Sovrintendenza capitolina ai beni culturali
To learn more about LiFi, Read Here
If you are interested in bringing LiFi to your school or to your children's school, Contact Us
LiFi Zones Cultural Heritage
CAMPANIA AND INNOVATION: TO BE IS GROWING ALONG WITH LIFI
The Project is co-funded by the European Union
With the objective of supporting the economic enhancement of innovation through the experimentation and implementation of innovative processes and solutions, both in product development and organization formulas, The Region of Campania will support the creation and consolidation of innovative startups with highly intensive applications through the contest “Campania Startup 2020”.
Among the entrepreneurial organizations supported by the Plan POR CAMPANIA FESR 2014-2020, we find To Be with the project “LiFi Zones Beni Culturali”, which aims at developing vertical solutions for the valorization of cultural assets through the LiFi technology.
The Project
The project “LiFi Zones Beni Culturali” wants to digitalize the tour experience within museums and cultural sites, to offer a more engaging and innovative experience and to attract a younger target. Moreover, it aims at developing interactive navigation services, particularly dedicated to people with disabilities, and increment the cultural assets' contribution to the nation's development. Finally, this project's objective is also to evaluate and develop new creative and innovative ideas, find ways to valorize our cultural and artistic heritage, and enhance the efficiency of the illumination system within the exhibition areas.
How are we going to reach these objectives? By creating a highly technological, meticulous, and customizable solution combining the digital and physical aspects and offering cultural institutions and their partners a comprehensive platform, easy to manage and that provides the right content at the right moment thanks to the highly accurate geolocation feature of Li-Fi.
Finality
Through our project we want to contribute to the digitalization of the world of cultural heritage, increase visits to the artistic sites and enrich the experience of the visitors. Starting from the core functionality of the Li-Fi Zone Platform, we will then add components designed for the specific sector, creating an App with its own unique logo. This logo will reflect the applications of Li-Fi in the Cultural Heritage sector.
Results
We have already been developing and experimenting Li-Fi solutions in the Cultural Heritage sector: Pompei's Archeological Park, Taranto's MArTA Museum, and Roma's Barracco Museum are just some examples. Since we wanted to make the LiFi Zones Beni Culturali Project a reality, offering an innovative tour experience, we are already working on new installations for other museums, and we are in a constant research and development process to offer an unprecedented solution.
We are working to offer green, digital, sustainable, and inclusive solutions to the world of cultural heritage.
Support Received
Thanks to the regional contribution of 263.137,70 euros, which was also co-funded by the European Union, our startup aims not only at offering an extremely efficient and scalable solution to the Cultural Heritage market, to leave a positive impact on the national territory and to guarantee a sustainable and innovative experience, but it also aims at strengthening and consolidating our structure by growing our team and establishing headquarters in Naples as well.
Work in progress
We are working to spread the light of innovation and we will keep you constantly updated.
Barracco Museum: How LiFi Changed the Exhibition Rooms
The Museum of Ancient Sculpture "Giovanni Barracco" is one of the first worldwide to implement LiFi technology to enhance its exhibition. The Museum and To Be'S shared objective is to enrich visitors' experience by combining the physical, the digital, and the rich art collection. The project, co-funded by the European Union, aims at implementing “New Kinds of Visiting Experiences at the Museum of Ancient Sculpture Giovanni Barracco”. In collaboration with DB Ingegneria dell’immagine Srl and Tecno Electric Srl, and as winners of the contest POR FESR 2014-2020 “L’Impresa fa Cultura” promoted by Regione Lazio, we installed four LiFi light sources in the main exhibition room.
Every LED lamp, emitting modulated light, generates a LiFi Zone associated with a unique code. Thanks to a specifically designed app, mobile devices that are located in the LiFi Zone can receive multimedia content related to the exhibited works or the visit.
Barracco Museum: Li-Fi Meets the Ancient World
Li-Fi, an innovative technology that allows fast, secure, and sustainable data transmission, lands at the Barracco Museum in Rome, breaking all traditional patterns and bringing a new kind of visiting experience.
Works to install LiFi solutions are in progress at the Barracco Museum. These solutions will be able to bring a new, engaging, and interactive visiting experience through multimedia content related to the exhibition, which will be directly received on visitors’ devices
This project carries a significant cultural, social and technological value, and it was co-funded by the European Union. QR codes and paper maps are no longer needed: one can simply position their device under the light source illuminating the collection to receive all the additional content.
To learn more about LiFi, read here
If you are interested in bringing LiFi to your or your children’s school, Contact Us.
Barracco Museum: Pathways Guided by Light for the Exhibition
For the Cultural Heritage sector, Li-Fi Light represents an important tool to enhance cultural assets, since it significantly improves visitors’ experience. The digital world requires specific skills, resources, and infrastructure. However, it is the only way to enhance museums and art, as the digital manages to attract citizens' and tourists' attention, promoting the “rebirth” of urban centers.
Following this fil rouge, at the Barracco Museum, we are implementing Li-Fi solutions able to engage visitors and provide them with a unique and interactive experience. This will be possible thanks to multimedia content appositely designed for the exhibition, which will be received directly on the visitors’ smartphones. This project carries a significant cultural, social and technological value, and it is co-funded by the European Union.
It might be time to say goodbye to QR codes, paper maps, and other technologies: one will simply position their device under the light source illuminating the exhibition to receive all the related content and information.
The project, presented and supported by the EU, that we are working on along with DB Ingegneria dell’Immagine Srl e Tecno Electric Srl, aims at bringing together the digital, history, and physical space to offer a unique fruition experience. Visitors will embark on a journey, all focused on ancient sculpture and Egyptian, Cypriot, Sumerian, Assyrian, Etrurian, Phoenician, Roman, and Greek decorative arts, guided by light.
To learn more about our current and future projects, keep following us on our website and social media platforms!
Light, art and innovation. Join the Li-Fi Revolution!
Li-Fi Arrives to Barracco Museum
Barracco Museum and Li-Fi. Works for the implementation of a new visiting experience have officially started at the Museum of Ancient Sculpture “Giovanni Barracco” in Rome. These changes will be based on Li-Fi and will be funded by Regione Lazio’s contest POR FESR 2014-2020 “L’impresa fa Cultura”.
Through the implementation of our Li-Fi solutions, starting from the main room, it will be possible to enjoy additional content, provided by the Barracco Museum, directly on your mobile phone and other devices. One will simply download the specifically designed app and position their device under the Li-Fi light source.
Li-Fi or Light Fidelity represents one of the most modern and innovative communication systems for wireless data transmission. This process takes place through light modulation, and it works thanks to an emitted light sequence that is not detectable by the human eye.
This technology is not only able to incentivize the fruition of our cultural heritage, but also facilitate the visiting experience for people with disabilities. We are working to make art more inclusive and accessible.
We don't want to reveal everything at once, we will keep you updated!