REVIVE
Prof Viren Swami is working on REVIVE, led by ARU's StoryLab. This project aims to promote more meaningful and democratic use of 3D immersive technologies and digital innovation in Europe.
REVIVE (Community-centred language REVItalisation powered by heritage-led storytellling and digital innoVation in Europe) is a €3M project funded by Horizon Europe. Bringing together academic and industry partners from the UK, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Estonia, it seeks to protect Europe’s heritage and linguistic, strengthen European identity, culture and creativity, and promote mutual understanding and social inclusion in Europe.
It focusses on revitalising two Endangered Intangible Heritage and Languages (EIHL) – Cornish (UK), and Griko (Italy) – through the integrated use of immersive technologies and participatory storytelling. Going above and beyond preserving the grammatical/lexical aspects of endangered languages, these methods are designed to promote active community engagement, foster social integration and cross-cultural fertilisation, and preserve a sense of place and long traditions of cultural and heritage sustainability within some of the most vulnerable ecosystems.
Taking advantage of XR (Extended Reality) technologies, REVIVE will produce the first EU online digital scaffolder – so called REVIVE(S) – comprising a) an online repository (and showcase) of old material testimonies collected by locals and new XR digital narratives and b) onsite temporary exhibitions, made of micro and macro outputs born out of REVIVE(S) and setup in selected communities’ venues.
These activities will inform policy recommendations, best practice guidelines, and toolkits for EIHL revitalisation, aligning with REVIVE’s main goal: demonstrating that citizen participation, multidisciplinarity, and the creative connotation of digital innovation are crucial and effective means for consolidating and promoting multilingualism and EIHL in Europe.