Exploitation of Mobile Access to Context-Based Information in Cultural Heritage Fruition

More than one billion smartphone users are estimated by 2014. With this in mind, visiting cultural heritage sites and exhibits may offer new level of engagement and entertainment just reaching down in our pockets. With orders of magnitude more computational horsepower than a five years-old desktop machine, stuffed with all sorts of sensors, these modern gizmos have a largely untapped potential to gain us access to personalized and on-demand information wherever it is needed. This paper is exactly about this, exploring with several case studies how these devices may become part of a memorable experience during a visit that one may want to share with friends and relatives. Specifically, the paper will focus on the definition of the user-experience (UX), on integration issues, and on context detection within augmented environments in cultural heritage sites, along with a discussion on the lessons learnt.