Earthquakes, communities and heritage: Telling stories of resilience through co-designed immersive media

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the experimental application of iterative co-design, community-based and place-centred approaches in the creation of 3D immersive experiences of places that have been badly damaged or destroyed after natural catastrophic events. We take as our case study the community of Senerchia, hit and partially destroyed by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake in Italy. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss the co-creation process we undertook with residents of the town for the making of an immersive documentary Italia Terremotata which explores life before, during and after the earthquake. Our approach is based on design-thinking and aims to define an ethical framework for the creation of reflexive and multi-vocal 3D immersive storytelling systems that consider ‘vulnerability’ and ‘empathy’ as central design values of the iterative prototyping and co-creation cycle.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research reported in this paper has been carried out as part of a collaboration between the University of Essex, the StoryLab Research Institute and RT60 Ltd and has been funded by the Eastern ARC and Anglia Ruskin University. Thanks are due to the whole community and municipality of Senerchia for their support during the development of the project. Special thanks go to the 15 members of the community who shared their stories and co-created the contents of the VR immersive documentary with us. Our thanks also go to our collaborators for the technical development of Italia Terremotata: Jad Aboulhosn (VR Development), Lance Pesquera (Video Editing) and Catherine Ashenden (Video Colour Grading). Finally, our sincere thanks go to the wonderful people who hosted us during our travels in Irpinia, for their warm hospitality.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2022.2102539.

Notes

1 Mini-series created by Craig Mazin.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fabrizio Galeazzi

Fabrizio Galeazzi is Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the StoryLab Research Institute, Anglia Ruskin University. He completed a PhD in Digital Heritage at University of California and held academic posts at the Universities of York and East Anglia. His research explores the combination of digital technologies and multimodal storytelling to develop heritage-led creative interventions for socio-cultural revitalisation and sustainable development. Fabrizio is particularly interested in evaluating the impact that the integrated use of 3D interactive visualisation, immersive narratives and participatory research might have on increasing marginalised communities’ adaptation and resilience to climate change and conflicts. He is member of Immerse UK, Cambridge Wireless and the Climate Heritage Network and has developed several knowledge transfer partnerships, including a KTP-UKRI project with UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and the UNESCO Network for Mediterranean Youth programme, aimed at equipping youth organisations in the MENA region with new skills to support their engagement for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.

Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco

Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco is Lecturer and Director of Studies for the MA in Heritage and Museums at the University of Essex. She is also affiliated member of the Cambridge Heritage Research Centre (CHRC) and Associate Editor of the Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH). Her research combines material culture, heritage, and cognitive science to explore how new technologies impact heritage making processes and the interpretation processes of the past. After receiving her PhD in World Cultures/Heritage at the University of California Merced, in 2014–2017 she led the Marie Skłodowska Curie project DIGIFACT: Digital artefacts: How People Perceive Tangible Cultural Heritage through Different Media, based at the University of Cambridge. Building on DIGIFACT, she obtained an Eastern ARC Fellowship at the University of Essex in 2018-2021, and developed a new line of research that investigates the socio-cultural potential of 3D technologies in rebuilding heritage and sense of place in the aftermath of natural catastrophes.

Rob Toulson

Rob Toulson is Founder and Director of RT60 Ltd, specialising in technology development for the audio and music industries. He was previously Professor of Creative Industries and Commercial Music at University of Westminster and Director of the Cultures of the Digital Economy Research Institute at Anglia Ruskin University. Alongside his technology development projects, Rob is an innovative music producer, sound designer and studio engineer working across most music and film genres. He has worked with many established music artists including Talvin Singh and Ethan Ash, and has taken the role of recording, mixing and mastering engineer on a number of albums for Mediaeval Baebes, who have previously topped the UK classical chart. His sound design and audio installation collaborations include work with contemporary artist Eduardo Kac and BAFTA winning filmmaker Shreepali Patel, and have been showcased at Glastonbury Festival, The V&A Museum, Natural History Museum and the Ruskin Digital Gallery.

Carlo Camporesi

Carlo Camporesi is a Computer Graphics and systems enthusiast with more than 20 years of experience in industry and academia. He has been developing novel methods in Computer Graphics and related fields as well as contributing, designing and maintaining production software for successful major companies. His primary interests are in animation, visualisation and interaction, XR, distributed system and system design. Carlo completed a PhD in Computer Graphics and Animation at the University of California, Merced. His thesis analyses the effectiveness of avatars as human trainers in monitored, feedback-based, virtual environments for training and learning where human-oriented motion skills are key to the learning material. This research addresses the challenge of designing such training systems with the approach of motion modelling by direct demonstration and relying on immersive motion capture interfaces. The proposed concepts were applied to the application of delivering monitored upper-body physical therapy.

Shreepali Patel

Shreepali Patel is Professor of Film and Screen at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. She is former BBC producer/director, filmmaker, story consultant and writer, and is co-founder of BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Eyeline Films with 25 years of worldwide industry experience, over 50 broadcast documentaries and dramas and 12 BBC Radio 4 documentaries. Her practice-led research focuses on investigating and creating deeply connecting immersive storytelling experiences within complex environments and to surface diverse voices. Her work which crosses multi-modal storytelling genres and platforms of experience and has been described as ‘ambitious, deftly executed. and pushing the boundaries of film & communication’ (AHRC & BAFTSS). An invited presenter and keynote at more than 30 international conferences and festivals, she also leads knowledge exchange events and exhibitions exploring the convergence of human creativity, technology and storytelling including Storytelling in the Fourth Industrial Revolution & Ways of Machine Seeing.