The World Heritage City of the Canary Islands, in collaboration with the ACTS Laboratory of the Canarian cultural promoter Futura Cultura Lab, reflects on the application of technology to safeguard its heritage
‘Porvenir Humáquina: Heritage and culture in the digital age of expanded realities, infoarchitecture and the metaverse’ will be held on 26 and 27 November at the former convent of Santo Domingo, with free admission.
The Cultural Heritage and Culture Departments of La Laguna City Council have joined forces with the ACTS Laboratory of the Canarian cultural promoter Futura Cultura Lab to organise a pioneering analysis forum on how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies can transform conservation, dissemination and citizen participation in relation to historical and cultural heritage. The conference “Porvenir Humáquina: Heritage and culture in the digital age of expanded realities, infoarchitecture and the metaverse”, to be held on 26 and 27 November in the former convent of Santo Domingo, represents a decisive step in the heritage innovation strategy of the Tenerife town, the only World Heritage City in the Canary Islands.
The Councillor for Cultural Heritage, Adolfo Cordobés, explains that “La Laguna has shown that protecting heritage does not mean locking it away in the past, but rather opening it up to the future. These conferences are part of our new heritage innovation strategy, the result of an analysis of the 25 years that have passed since UNESCO recognition, which seeks to integrate artificial intelligence and digital realities as tools for conservation, interpretation and citizen participation. All with the firm objective of making La Laguna’s heritage a living space, accessible and connected to present and future generations.”
For his part, the Councillor for Culture, Adrián del Castillo, emphasises that “La Laguna’s culture has always been a bridge between tradition and modernity, and now it is taking another step forward, placing La Laguna on the international map of cultural innovation. The metaverse, augmented reality and artificial intelligence are not just technologies, they are new languages that allow us to narrate who we are and project our identity, so that these conferences also become an invitation to think together about how creativity and technology can reinforce our cultural diversity.”
Internationally renowned speakers
The event will bring together an interdisciplinary team of internationally renowned researchers, cultural professionals, artists and specialists in technological innovation to propose a contemporary reflection on the evolution of cultural heritage in the digital age and discuss biodigital humanism, the metaverse, infoarchitecture and cultural sustainability, linking cultural heritage and historical memory with the technological challenges of the 21st century and the climate crisis.
Among them are experts in artificial intelligence applied to document and heritage management, pioneers in the use of expanded realities for cultural dissemination, and creators working on the development of immersive experiences in the metaverse, such as Luis Alcalá Martínez, Amanda Masha Caminals, Emilio López-Galiacho Carrilero, Isabel Sánchez Berriel, and Juan Zafra.
In this regard, Alejandro Sacristán, curator of this initiative and of the ACTS Laboratory, believes that “with this second edition of the Thought Conference, we are proposing a dialogue between experts, institutions and citizens to explore how expanded realities and the metaverse can become spaces for cultural encounter. La Laguna, with its World Heritage status, is the ideal setting to experiment with these tools and demonstrate that technology can also be a heritage mediator.”
The international relevance of some of the participants makes this conference a unique showcase for La Laguna in the global debate on heritage and technology. The city is thus positioning itself as a living laboratory for cultural innovation, capable of engaging in dialogue with institutions and experts from around the world and placing itself at the forefront of the application of artificial intelligence and expanded realities to heritage.
The co-director of Futura Cultura Lab, who is also director of the aforementioned ACTS Laboratory and the conference, Goyo Ucle, points out that among the objectives of this proposal, “we want to show that artificial intelligence and immersive realities can be allies for education, participation and creativity. La Laguna is thus becoming an international benchmark for how a World Heritage city can lead the digital transformation of culture,” he said.
The international nature of the proposal not only reinforces La Laguna’s profile as a World Heritage City, but also helps to consolidate its role as a regional benchmark in the construction of new digital cultural narratives.
Preservation with ethical and sustainable links
These objectives are reflected in an innovative programme that combines theoretical reflection with practical experiences, offering citizens and professionals in the sector the opportunity to learn first-hand about the possibilities opened up by technological innovation. All of this is based on an analysis of the concept of the Humáquina Society, developed by expert Juan Zafra, and how “figital” (physical-digital) heritage is already facing this new society as a living fabric of memories and values, which needs to be preserved with digital tools that strengthen ethical and sustainable links.
The content of the conference will be organised into lectures, round tables and workshops, which will address issues such as the use of artificial intelligence to catalogue and preserve historical archives, the application of augmented reality in the interpretation of heritage sites, the creation of virtual environments that allow for an immersive experience of heritage, and the ethical and social challenges posed by cultural digitisation.
In this regard, critical challenges will also be explored, such as the threat of climate change to World Heritage sites and the use of digital twins as virtual replicas, with real-time data, to monitor and anticipate various types of damage.
Combining tradition with innovation
With these conferences, La Laguna is blazing a trail in the field of World Heritage cities: combining tradition with innovation, heritage with digital creativity, and memory with the future.
We invite all citizens and the academic and cultural community to participate in an event that will mark a turning point in the way we understand and experience heritage in the digital age. La Laguna, true to its status as a World Heritage Site, demonstrates that technological innovation can also be a form of safeguarding, education and social cohesion, and that the future of heritage also depends on its ability to dialogue with the tools of the present,” adds Adolfo Cordobés.
The conference “Porvenir Humáquina: Heritage and culture in the digital age of expanded realities, infoarchitecture and the metaverse” will be held in the afternoon in the Crystal Room of the former convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, with free admission. On 26 November, there will be several presentations and round tables between 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and on the following day, the event will take place between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.