PATCH: A Portable Context-Aware ATlas for Browsing Cultural Heritage

In this final chapter, we show an application of discussed data management pervasive technologies for a cultural heritage smart scenario by describing the PATCH (Portable context-aware ATlas for Cultural Heritage) system—a “portable” prototype of a multimedia and social “atlas” of cultural points of interest, in which browsing is driven by the context. The system is characterized by several features typical of pervasive systems: (1) capability of gathering information from distributed and heterogeneous pervasive data sources (e.g., sensor networks, social networks, digital libraries and archives, multimedia collections, web data services, etc.); (2) context awareness and, consequently, ability of providing useful and personalized data and services for users on the basis of their preferences and of the surrounded environment; (3) advanced data management techniques and technologies necessary to deal with the information variety, velocity, and volume; and (4) advanced smart services as retrieval, recommendation, analytics, and other utilities. A specific application of our system within DATABENC is proposed by means of a real case study related to the Paestum Ruins.