{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T06:10:14Z","timestamp":1756447814393,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756425600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Comput. Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>In the context of preserving and promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), we propose a technology-driven approach to transmit cultural and social phenomena to new generations. As a case study, we explored the <jats:italic>umarell<\/jats:italic> phenomenon, a deeply rooted tradition in the Emilia Romagna region, where retired men spend their time observing construction sites and offering unsolicited advice.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our intervention was designed using Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) methods, involving 15 young adults in a focus group and 73 participants in a survey. To engage digital natives in urban spaces, we developed an <jats:italic>in-situ<\/jats:italic> experience that combines tangible artifacts with interactive 3D digital content accessible through Augmented Reality (AR) on a mobile application. Our approach leverages smartphone sensors, including GPS and gyroscopes, to dynamically adjust and contextualize the 3D building model within the real environment, enhancing spatial awareness and immersion. To assess the effectiveness of our solution, we involved approximately 125 teenagers and young adults in a public demonstration.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The findings show that the umarell concept is more familiar to adults, who also recognize its territorial value, whereas younger participants were drawn primarily to the app's digital features (AR function and 3D model).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study extends existing research by showing how hybrid strategies, combining mobile AR with tangible elements, enhance engagement with cultural heritage among younger audiences. The intergenerational co-design process helped identify meaningful features while mitigating risks of cultural flattening and commodification. Overall, technology emerges not as a substitute but as a bridge for intergenerational cultural transmission.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcomp.2025.1629965","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T05:45:21Z","timestamp":1756446321000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Augmenting the intangible: an intervention through an AR mobile app and an installation to foster a local cultural phenomenon"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Catia","family":"Prandi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Ceccarini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Gianni","family":"Tumedei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Salomoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"Andrea Mazzucchi\n              M. L.\n            \n          \n          Umarell\n          \n          2018"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.2197\/ipsjjip.24.31","article-title":"Gamification mechanism for enhancing a participatory urban sensing: survey and practical results","volume":"24","author":"Arakawa","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Inf. Process"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1109\/CONIITI.2018.8587097","article-title":"\u201ce-pumapunku: an interactive app to teach children the ca\u00f1ari and inca indigenous cultures during guided museum visits,\u201d","author":"Arias-Espinoza","year":"2018","journal-title":"2018 Congreso Internacional de Innovaci\u00f3n y Tendencias en Ingenier"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1005","DOI":"10.3390\/heritage4020055","article-title":"Smart heritage: defining the discourse","volume":"4","author":"Batchelor","year":"2021","journal-title":"Heritage"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9859","DOI":"10.3390\/app12199859","article-title":"Augmented reality in cultural heritage: an overview of the last decade of applications","volume":"12","author":"Boboc","year":"2022","journal-title":"Appl. Sci"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1145\/3524458.3547123","article-title":"\u201cEscapecampus: exploiting a game-based learning tool to increase the sustainability knowledge of students,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on Information Technology for Social Good, GoodIT '22","author":"Ceccarini","year":"2022"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-23768-3_6","article-title":"\u201cThree user-driven innovation methods for co-creating cloud services,\u201d","author":"Chang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Human-Computer Interaction-INTERACT 2011"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3390\/mti3010001","article-title":"Embodied engagement with narrative: a design framework for presenting cultural heritage artifacts","volume":"3","author":"Chu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Multimodal Technol. Interact"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccs.2012.10.003","article-title":"Intangible cultural heritage: safeguarding for creativity","volume":"3","author":"Cominelli","year":"2012","journal-title":"City Cult. Soc"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1057","DOI":"10.1007\/s11831-022-09831-7","article-title":"Augmented reality: a comprehensive review","volume":"30","author":"Dargan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Arch. Comput. Methods Eng"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.3390\/mti8070058","article-title":"Cultural heritage as a didactic resource through extended reality: a systematic review of the literature","volume":"8","author":"Dordio","year":"2024","journal-title":"Multimodal Technol. Interact"},{"key":"B12","first-page":"160","article-title":"\u201cTangible interaction in museums and temporary exhibitions: embedding and embodying the intangible values of cultural heritage,\u201d","volume-title":"Systems & Design Beyond Processes and Thinking 2016. Proceedings","author":"Duranti","year":"2016"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1007\/s00779-024-01792-x","article-title":"An augmented reality approach for communicating intangible and architectural heritage through digital characters and scale models","volume":"28","author":"Galani","year":"2024","journal-title":"Pers. Ubiquitous Comput"},{"key":"B14","first-page":"221","article-title":"\u201cCity landmark as an interactive installation: experiences with stone, water and public space,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, TEI '14","author":"H\u00e4kkil\u00e4","year":"2014"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-95282-6_26","article-title":"\u201cUser experience of markerless augmented reality applications in cultural heritage museums: \u2018museumeye' as a case study,\u201d","author":"Hammady","year":"2018","journal-title":"Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Computer Graphics"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9531.2011.01243.x","article-title":"Comment: On the concept of snowball sampling","volume":"41","author":"Handcock","year":"2011","journal-title":"Sociol. Methodol"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1091","DOI":"10.1145\/985921.985995","article-title":"\u201cUser-driven innovation in the future applications lab,\u201d","volume-title":"CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA '04","author":"Holmquist","year":"2004"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"430","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-39351-8_47","article-title":"\u201cAttractiveness of an interactive public art installation,\u201d","author":"Hu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Distributed, Ambient, and Pervasive Interactions"},{"key":"B19","volume-title":"ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Charter Principles and Guidelines for Managing Tourism at Places of Cultural and Heritage Significance","year":"2002"},{"key":"B20","unstructured":"Jardine\n              A.\n            \n          \n          Burger King Recruits Construction-Spotting Pensioners to Oversee its Expansion in Italy\n          \n          2016"},{"key":"B21","article-title":"\u201cIt's not just whether you win or lose: thoughts on gamification and culture,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems","author":"Khaled","year":"2011"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4963","DOI":"10.3390\/s23104963","article-title":"Location-based augmented reality for cultural heritage communication and education: the doltso district application","volume":"23","author":"Kleftodimos","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3470470","article-title":"Towards tangible cultural heritage experiences\u2014enriching VR-based object inspection with haptic feedback","volume":"15","author":"Krumpen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Comput. Cult. Herit"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1350-0775.2004.00459.x","article-title":"Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in the 2003 unesco convention: a critical appraisal","volume":"56","author":"Kurin","year":"2004","journal-title":"Museum Int"},{"key":"B25","volume-title":"3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice","author":"LaViola","year":"2017"},{"key":"B26","volume-title":"The Production of Space","author":"Lefebvre","year":"1991"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1093\/ejil\/chr006","article-title":"Intangible cultural heritage: the living culture of peoples","volume":"22","author":"Lenzerini","year":"2011","journal-title":"Eur. J. Int. Law"},{"key":"B28","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u201cDigital making for inheritance and enlivening intangible cultural heritage: a case of hairy monkey handicrafts,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI '23","author":"Liu","year":"2023"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5935","DOI":"10.3390\/heritage6080312","article-title":"A systematic literature review of gamification in\/for cultural heritage: leveling up, going beyond","volume":"6","author":"Marques","year":"2023","journal-title":"Heritage"},{"key":"B30","unstructured":"Masotti\n              D.\n            \n          \n          Umarells"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.2478\/quageo-2021-0009","article-title":"Assessing youth engagement in the preservation and promotion of culture heritage: a case study in Kor\u00e7a city, Albania","volume":"40","author":"Menkshi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Quaest. Geogr"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6343","DOI":"10.3390\/heritage7110297","article-title":"Cultural heritage at risk in world conflicts: digital tools' contribution to its preservation","volume":"7","author":"Neglia","year":"2024","journal-title":"Heritage"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/07352166.2023.2291074","article-title":"Caring public space: advancing justice through intergenerational public space design and planning","author":"Nelischer","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Urban Aff"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.3390\/mti8060052","article-title":"Mobile AR interaction design patterns for storytelling in cultural heritage: a systematic review","volume":"8","author":"Nikolarakis","year":"2024","journal-title":"Multimodal Technol. Interact"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.3390\/heritage1020028","article-title":"The role of tangible interaction to communicate tacit knowledge of built heritage","volume":"1","author":"Nofal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Heritage"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"324","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-78901-5_29","article-title":"\u201cSmart-heritage: an intelligent platform for the monitoring of cultural heritage in smart cities,\u201d","volume-title":"Sustainable Smart Cities and Territories","author":"Plaza-Hern\u00e1ndez","year":"2022"},{"key":"B37","first-page":"19","article-title":"\u201cInnovative technologies in revitalizing the cultural heritages in smart cities, opportunities and challenges,\u201d","volume-title":"2021 2nd International Conference On Smart Cities, Automation &Intelligent Computing Systems (ICON-SONICS)","author":"Pouryousefzadeh","year":"2021"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3341","DOI":"10.1007\/s11042-018-6513-4","article-title":"Gamifying cultural experiences across the urban environment","volume":"78","author":"Prandi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Multimed. Tools Appl"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2022\/2851044","article-title":"Technological tools for knowledge apprehension and promotion in the cultural and heritage tourism sector: systematic literature review","volume":"2022","author":"Quiroz-Fabra","year":"2022","journal-title":"Hum. Behav. Emerg. Technol"},{"key":"B40","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u201cFormationcreator: designing a vr dance formation system for intangible cultural heritage dance,\u201d","volume-title":"Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA '24","author":"Rao","year":"2024"},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s13673-020-0213-6","article-title":"Designing human-centric software artifacts with future users: a case study","volume":"10","author":"Roccetti","year":"2020","journal-title":"Hum.-centric Comput. Inf. Sci"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4419-0072-2_1","author":"Ruggles","year":"2009","journal-title":"From Tangible to Intangible Heritage"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8905","DOI":"10.3390\/s23218905","article-title":"Lagunar: a city-scale mobile outdoor augmented reality application for heritage dissemination","volume":"23","author":"S\u00e1nchez Berriel","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.26341\/issn.2241-4002-2018-1b-2","article-title":"Smart cultural heritage in digital cities","author":"Siountri","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sustain. Dev. Cult. Traditions"},{"key":"B45","unstructured":"Umarel Card\n          \n          2016"},{"key":"B46","first-page":"247","article-title":"\u201cApplication of AR technology in intangible cultural heritage and cultural tourism,\u201d","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Electronic Information Technology and Smart Agriculture, ICEITSA '23","author":"Sun","year":"2024"},{"key":"B47","author":"Tylor","year":"1871","journal-title":"Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom, Volume 2"},{"key":"B48","unstructured":"Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage\n          \n          2003"},{"key":"B49","unstructured":"Umarell\n          \n          2015"},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1323","DOI":"10.1145\/2531602.2531639","article-title":"\u201cMyposition: sparking civic discourse by a public interactive poll visualization,\u201d","author":"Valkanova","year":"2014","journal-title":"Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work"},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/01442872.2024.2421530","article-title":"Reimagining public water: an intergenerational exploration of paradigms for future system design","author":"van Aalderen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Policy Stud"},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1016\/j.culher.2010.01.006","article-title":"A definition of cultural heritage: from the tangible to the intangible","volume":"11","author":"Vecco","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Cult. Herit"},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"588","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2018.1529192","article-title":"Access now, but for whom and at what cost?","volume":"23","author":"Yeo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Inf. Commun. Soc"},{"key":"B54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1016\/j.culher.2024.08.005","article-title":"Intangible heritage restoration of damaged tomb murals through augmented reality technology: a case study of Zhao Yigong tomb murals in tang dynasty of china","volume":"69","author":"Zheng","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Cult. Herit"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Computer Science"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcomp.2025.1629965\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T05:45:25Z","timestamp":1756446325000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcomp.2025.1629965\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"references-count":54,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fcomp.2025.1629965"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fcomp.2025.1629965","relation":{},"ISSN":["2624-9898"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2624-9898","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"article-number":"1629965"}}