Sept. 3 – Innovation can enhance the past and the history of a specific location. And this is the case of a Trentino project for the city of Bethlehem. An internationally renown cultural and artistic center, Bethlehem each year welcomes over a million tourists from around the world. A new electronic guide, designed and built in Trentino, can now help the Palestinian city better manage the tourist flow. The project was conceived by the University of Trento, via its spin-off Okkam srl, with the Sina Institute at Birzeit University in Ramallah and the Centre for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The e-guide was built using ObjectLinks Okkam, an innovative platform that allows for a more flexible and effective use of the QR code (or any other proximity sensor, such as NFC and RFID) to communicate with users on their smartphones and tablets, enhancing their travel experience and bringing to life Bethlehem’s cultural heritage. Walking in the old part of the city, tourists can read QR codes with their smartphone and automatically hear an audio guide in their language, watch videos and read insights, while the Cultural Department of the City can edit or add content without having to change the displayed QR codes.
