Digitization and Gamification in Cultural Heritage: : The portuguese context in the framework of national and international policies and some practical examples

This article begins with an attempt to contextualize the use of digital media and computation in works related to cultural heritage, in Portugal, in the frame of the regulations and policies that have been developed internationally and nationally. It then develops on the contextualization of the implementation of digitalization strategies regarding museum’s collections in Portugal and its struggles both to implement these strategies as well as to invest in the creation and implementation of applications of digital tools for audience’s engagement. Following some examples that have been developed for different purposes such as preservation, cataloguing, education and teaching, in different fields of cultural heritage such as archeology, ethnology, natural and historical sites, the article will then focus on the contributions of the more recent uses of technology to enhance or create interactive heritage experiences in cultural heritage, such as, photogrammetry, 3D modelling, and movement analysis. Finally, the last part of this article explores a proposal of gamification of intangible cultural heritage, portraying the winter festivity Carnival of Podence inscribed, in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in December 2019.