Making Built Heritage Accessible to the World

Malta & Gozo heritage on Google® Street View Gallery

Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education in partnership with Google® is showcasing the use of technology to portray images of built up heritage in Malta and Gozo. The Department of computing at the Institute is very active in the use of creative computing to enhance the user experience when dealing with cultural heritage, and through the use of the Google® Trekker, sites such as the Citadel (known in Maltese as the Cittadella), the Guard Tower in Xlendi, and the Ta’ Kenuna Tower (known in Maltese as the Torri Ta’ Kenuna)all three sites in Gozo are now accessible on Google® Maps and some selected panoramas have been uploaded in the Google® Street View Gallery.

The Google® Street View Trekker operated by Mr Dylan Seychell, resident academic of the Department of Computing, Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education, Malta

The Google® Street View Gallery offers the opportunity for access to these visited built heritage sites through the Cloud from all around the world. The gallery offers people from every corner of the world to explore, through a 360° view on a screen, that are captured still images that are stitched together to create the 360° panoramas seen on Google® Maps.

Link to Google® Street View Gallery to view the 360° panorama of the Citadel in Rabat, Gozo Click Here

Google Maps

The images are taken by a bespoke hi-tech equipment, designed and built by Google® engineers, known as the Street View Trekker, which is a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. The technology, first introduced in 2012, allowed us to capture places in Malta and Gozo inaccessible by car, adding to the images captured by the automobile to include sites accessible only via footpaths.

Ta Kenuna Tower in Nadur, Gozo using the Google Trekker by Mr Dylan Seychell, resident academic at Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education and a team from the Department of Gocputing. Visit the site by clicking here

Xlendi Tower guarding the natural harbour in Gozo using the Google® Trekker by Mr Dylan Seychell, resident academic and a team from the Department of Computing at Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education. Visit the site by clicking here

Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education™ is delighted to work with Google® to portray to the Maltese population how technology enhances the user experiences of familiar sites. Persons with accessibility constraints who may find certain built heritage sites and scenic areas inaccessible, may have a taste of the site. The millions of visitors (or would be visitors) may also have a taste of what the particular area has to offer.

The footpaths that may be covered using the Google® Trekker® are inaccessible for individuals who have accessibility constraints.

Visit all the sites in Malta & Gozo that are available on Google® Street View Click Here These views were undertaken through an initiative of Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education, Heritage Malta and Google® with the specific intention to put Maltese cultural heritage on the cloud, available to the people of the world.

User Experience

The Google® Cardboard may be used with a smart phone to experience the 360° panoramic views, with the possibility of movement along a path.

The Institute teaches undergraduate diploma and degree programmes in Computing with User Experience as a specialisation, and this project enlightens students what realms may be conquered using still image photography, 360° image stitching software and a display device. These 360° panoramic views may be also enjoyed using a Google® cardboard in conjunction to a smart phone device. Society is in at an age where any built heritage may be enjoyed visually, with information readily accessible through smart devices, and explored through the cloud from thousands of kilometers away.

Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education is licensed by the National Commission for Further & Higher Education of the Government of Malta with license #196, and an Affiliate Teaching Institute for the University of London. Contact details — Address : 2, Foundation Building, Schembri Street, Hamrun HMR 1541, telephone +356 2123 5451 eMail infodesk@stmartins.edu WebSite https://www.stmartins.edu