Within the scope of the project through innovative digital solutions, a new interactive digital costume experience is introduced at Ērberģe Manor. The solution combines cultural heritage interpretation, storytelling and modern technology, creating a visitor‑centred experience that strengthens the role of local legends in sustainable tourism development.
The experience is designed to increase visitor engagement, diversify tourism offers, and promote the Selonia region through immersive and accessible digital content.
Digital Innovation for Cultural Heritage Interpretation
One of the key project objectives is the modern interpretation of cultural heritage using digital tools. It is directly addressed through the interactive costume experience, which allows visitors to digitally try on historical costumes of iconic manor‑related characters — the Blue Lady and Baron von Hahn.
Rather than passively consuming information, visitors become active participants in the manor’s legend. By combining digital costume try‑on with personalised audio and visual storytelling, the experience enables visitors to emotionally connect with the history and atmosphere of a specific era, making the content more engaging, memorable and accessible.
Visitor‑Centred and Inclusive Experience
The interactive solution is intuitive, user‑friendly and available in three languages: Latvian, English and Lithuanian. This ensures that both local visitors and international tourists can fully engage with the content.
The experience begins with a touchscreen interface featuring an atmospheric visual of Ērberģe Manor’s façade, accompanied by an invitation to become part of the local legend. Visitors select a character and are guided through the process using clear visual cues, ensuring ease of use regardless of age or technical experience.
Personalised Digital Content and Active Engagement
After selecting a character, visitors are photographed, and the system generates a personalised video dialogue, digitally placing the visitor into the role of the chosen historical figure. While the personalised content is being prepared, visitors take part in a short cycle of interactive educational activities lasting approximately 2–5 minutes. These activities may include:
- historical knowledge questions,
- image recognition tasks,
- quick decision‑making challenges,
- thematically linked riddles.
This interactive phase not only maintains visitor engagement but also supports the project’s educational objectives by encouraging learning through play and discovery.
Sustainable and Smart Tourism Development
The digital costume experience contributes directly to the project’s aim of smart and sustainable tourism development. By providing digital interpretation instead of physical props or printed materials, the solution minimises resource use while offering flexible, updatable content.
Additionally, the experience supports tourism staff by handling part of the interpretive workload digitally, allowing personnel to focus on higher‑value visitor interaction and services.
Strengthening Destination Attractiveness
The experience concludes with the creation of a personalised digital photograph, offering visitors an opportunity to immerse themselves in the historical environment and reinforcing emotional attachment to the destination. This approach supports the project’s objective to increase destination attractiveness, encourage longer stays and promote repeat visits.
Through the integration of digital storytelling, local legends and interactive design, the solution enhances Ērberģe Manor as a culturally rich and innovative tourism site, contributing to the overall visibility and competitiveness of the Selonia region.