Reforming the representation of the reformation: Mixed reality narratives in communicating tangible and intangible heritage of the protestant reformation in Finland

Abstract

This paper introduces a case in which cultural heritage is communicated by combining historical narrative with Mixed Reality (MR) technology. The art of representing intangible heritage and making abstract and complex transformations comprehensible with MR technology is being discussed through a case example. MR application Sanan seppä (“Wordsmith”) represents the history of the Protestant Reformation in Finland (1527 onwards). The application has been implemented inside the Turku Cathedral in Southwest Finland. The application offers a set of short scenes appearing in different places inside the Cathedral. Technically, the app runs in a tablet computer, and it is based on a 3D game engine. Bluetooth beacons are used for coarse positioning, and 3D point cloud technology is applied for markerless tracking. The app supports social media services and includes links to background information about the characters and events within the story. We argue that MR technology is more than well suitable for communicating both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In our case example we examine how different kinds of cultural heritage connected with the reformation can be visualized and made more comprehensible. In practice, this means combining the Turku Cathedral, objects within it and digital elements with MR enables showing how the reformation has affected both Finnish culture and material surroundings. The changes inside a church space — the tangible proof of changes brought by reformation — are rather easy to depict but even more immaterial things like customs or opinions can be made visible. With the help of the 3D characters the Sanan seppä application shows how the reformation could have affected the everyday life of people from different backgrounds. Thus the MR application makes the past appear more polyphonic than in more traditional ways of mediating the past. Reference material from various sources has been used when creating the application, and users of the application are provided with information about the sources used.