UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

TREATY OF UTRECHT

… is a series of individual peace treaties signed in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713. The treaties between several European states, including Great Britain, France, Spain, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic, helped end the War of Spanish Succession. It affected not only Europe, but North and South America, trade routes to India and the East, and trade and slavery monopolies throughout the world.

The Treaty introduced the notion of ‘balance of power’ and demonstrated that tolerance, multi-culturalism and negotiation were more effective than nationalism and the sword.

In 2013, the city and province of Utrecht will celebrate the Treaty, and through the celebration, attempt to achieve European Cultural Capitol status in 2018.

Afbeelding van de groep van de hertog van Beieren in de maskeradeoptocht ter gelegenheid van het 52e lustrum van de Universiteit (1896), in de Minrebroederstraat te Utrecht. (Het Utrechts Archief)

Gezicht in de Schoutenstraat te Utrecht die met een erehaag is versierd ter gelegenheid van het 52e lustrum van de Universiteit (1896) met als thema de deelnemers aan het Ridderhofspel te Wenen in 1560. (Het Utrechts Archief)

Gezicht in de Schoutenstraat te Utrecht die met een erehaag is versierd ter gelegenheid van het 52e lustrum van de Universiteit (1896) met als thema de deelnemers aan het Ridderhofspel te Wenen in 1560. (Het Utrechts Archief)

Gezicht op de met houten gevels versierde Bakkerbrug over de Oudegracht te Utrecht, tijdens de viering van het 65ste lustrum van de Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, met als thema François Villon. 1961 (Het Utrechts Archief)

INTERACTIVE HANDHELD TOURS WEBSITE / REPOSITORY

BALANCING POWER GAMEVIDEO PORTALS

INTERACTIVE HANDHELD TOURS WEBSITE / REPOSITORYtourists & museum-goers the public, school childrenthe interested public an international audience

BALANCING POWER GAMEyoung people & gamers

VIDEO PORTALSpassers-by, the busy public

target audiences

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

THE PRESENT MEETS THE PAST: HANDHELD TOURS

EXTENDING THE MUSEUM AND ARCHIVE TO THE STREETS

MANY STORIES AND VOICES, REFLECTING NATIONALITY, CLASS, GENDER, ETHNICITY, AND EXPERIENCE, EMBODIED IN PARTICULAR CHARACTERS: A SEAMSTRESS, A FRENCH NOBLEMAN, A BRITISH DIPLOMAT, A DUTCH COUPLE….

TWO SYSTEMS:

ONE HIGH-END AND PROPRIETARY, WITH OPTIMAL 4G COMPATIBLITY, PRE-LOADED WITH DATA AND VIDEO CLIPS, AND EQUIPPED WITH A LARGE SCREEN.

ONE LOWER END, WITH DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE OPERABLE ON MOST 3G AND 4G HANDHELDS.

INTERACTIVE, ALLOWING TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHIC ANNOTATION

SOCIAL MEDIA: A PUBLIC SITE OF MEMORY

USERS CAN ANNOTATE LOCATIONS WITH ARCHIVAL HISTORIES (OF PARTICULAR BUILDINGS), WITH THEIR PERSONAL MEMORIES AND ANECDOTES. MOREOVER, USER TAGS AND LINKS TO OTHER SOURCES

(MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, WEBSITES, LOCATIONS) WILL BE ANONYMIZED, TRACKED AND AGGREGATED FOR OTHER USERS, ADDING A USER-GENERATED LAYER TO THE PROJECT AND A DATA SET FOR FUTURE HISTORIANS.

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

THE PRESENT MEETS THE PAST: HANDHELD TOURS

• EXTENDING THE MUSEUM AND ARCHIVE TO THE STREETS

• SOCIAL, BUILDING UPON USERS’ TEXT & PHOTO ANNOTATIONS

• 2 MODES OF PRESENTATION: OMNISCENT AND MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVE

• QR AND GPS NAVIGATION WITH BOTH SUGGESTED ROUTING AND ‘PUSH’ TECHNOLOGY

• AUDIO, VIDEO, AND TEXT ELEMENTS; AUGMENTED REALITY OVERLAYS

• ACTIVE LINKS TO THE ARCHIVE, MUSEUMS, AND VVU ACTIVITIES

• LINKS TO THE UI WEBSITE AND DE POORTEN VAN UTRECHT

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

HERE MEETS THERE: DE POORTEN VAN UTRECHT

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

HERE MEETS THERE: DE POORTEN VAN UTRECHT

• 24/7 VIDEO LINKS TO SITES DEFINED BY THE VvU (CAPE BRETON ISLAND, CANADA; JAMAICA; BRAZIL, GIBRALTAR), BOTH SITUATING UTRECHT’S CENTRALITY AND SHOWING THE ONGOING IMPACT OF THE TREATY.

• LIVE FEED FROM THE PORTALS TO UI’S WEBSITE

• PUBLIC INSTALLATIONS (IN HOOG CATHERIJNE, THE DOMPLEIN, NEUDE ETC.) MAKING THE LINKS ACCESSIBLE EVEN TO THOSE NOT CONNECTED BY HANDHELD OR WEB ACCESS

• SITE-SPECIFIC AGGREGATORS FOR THE PUBLIC’S TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ANNOTATIONS

• A GRAPHIC REMINDER OF THE PERIOD’S SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE CAMERA OBSCURA

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

BALANCING POWER: A MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER LOCATION-BASED GAME

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

BALANCING POWER: A MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER LOCATION-BASED GAME

• THE CITY AS PLAYING FIELD FOR CHANGING IDENTITIES

• INTEGRATING ELEMENT FOR THE TOUR AND “POORTEN”, ENCOURAGING VISITORS ACTIVELY TO SEARCH OUT CERTAIN CLUES AND TO MAKE USE OF THE UPLOAD FEATURES OF “DE POORTEN”

• THEMATIC ENGAGEMENT OF THE THE VVU’S KEY DIPLOMATIC CONCEPT

• POSSIBLE EXTENSION OF THE GAME TO ONLINE PARTICIPANTS

• ACCESSIBLE TO GPS-EQUIPPED HANDHELDS ONCE SOFTWARE IS DOWNLOADED.

• TARGETING YOUNG(ER) USERS

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER: DATA RICH WEBSITE

• HERE MEETS THERE (LINKS TO “DE POORTEN”), AND NOW MEETS THEN (LINKS TO SELECTED CITY SITES)

• INFORMATION AND PROMOTION SITE FOR THE VVU

• ACCESS TO THE UPLOADED TEXTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS POSTED BY VISITORS TO THE POORTALS VAN UTRECHT

• INTERACTIVE ‘VIRTUAL’ TOURISM AND ROUTE CONSTRUCTIONS

• TOPIC-SPECIFIC LINKS TO THE OFFERINGS OF UTRECHT’S ARCHIVE, MUSEUMS AND VVU ACTIVITIES, ALLOWING INTERESTED VISITORS TO DEEPEN THEIR EXPERIENCE AND GIVING THE PROJECT RELEVANCE IN THE CLASSROOM

• ANNOTATION FEATURES SO THAT VISITORS CAN ADD THEIR COMMENTS, AND THEIR COMMENTS CAN BE ARCHIVED

sustainability1: social media will enable the database to grow through user tags, links & comments, building upon the original design.

sustainability

… the project would be turned over to the city for use as part of the tourism infrastructure. It could be developed to allow tourists to visit the city and province at different points in time, and connecting the present to the many pasts.

2: After 2013…

PROCESS?COLLABORATIVE… DRAWING ON INTERNATIONAL AND

LOCAL EXPERTS IN HISTORY, THE ARTS AND CULTURE, AND TECHNOLOGY, TOGETHER WITH THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION

ACCRETIVE… BUILDING ON PUBLIC INPUT, WHETHER TEXT AND PHOTO UPLOADS, COMMENTS, OR SOCIAL TAGGING

TRANSFORMATIVE… USING TECHNOLOGY, HISTORY AND THE PERCEPTIONS OF THE PUBLIC TO ENRICHEN THE UNDERSTANDING OF UTRECHT’S HISTORICAL ROLE AND FUTURE POTENTIALS

SUSTAINABLE… AGGREGATED USER INPUT WILL ALLOW THE PROJECT TO GROW; THE INFRASTRUCTURE WILL STAY IN PLACE AND BE HANDED OVER TO THE CITY FOR TOURISM

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE:

CITY BRANDING – UTRECHT AS A WORLD CENTER THANKS TO ITS RICH HISTORY

UTRECHT AS A SITE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND DEPLOYMENT

UTRECHT AS AN AGENT FOR PEACEFUL COLLABORATION AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF A PUBLIC VOICE

GLOBAL REACH, THANKS TO “DE POORTEN” AND THE WEBSITE

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL, INTEGRATING TOURISM, EDUCATION, AND ENTERTAINMENT

COLLABORATIVE, WORKING WITH NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL AND CITY GOVERNMENT, BUSINESSES AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS AND THE PEOPLE

SUSTAINABLE, WITH MUTUALLY REINFORCING ELEMENTS AND AN AFTERLIFE…

UTRECHT INTERACTIVE