Initially proposed solutions

 The first plan is to design “speaking paintings” such as the Harry Potter films. These paintings will be digital and able to interact with visitors. The digital touchscreen will interact when a motion detector indicates a viewer staring at a particular fresco for 3 seconds. The image will describe the facts of itself to the viewer. Viewers can also ask relevant questions regarding the description which would be added as options in the screen. This communicative approach will certainly bring a change to the conventional style of representing facts and the visitors would like to explore more. As designing these digital fresco paintings will take time, this plan might take a longer period to be executed.

Renovation of the cathedral website is another interesting plan that could take a shorter period to launch. Currently, the website is completely text based. Introducing an “Audio Description Guide” on the website is a feasible and less time-consuming plan. It can be achieved by using recorded audios. With this facility, the user would be able to listen to the website contents and services clearly. For different social activities, there are different other webpages and websites embedded into the cathedral website. They would be available in the English language at least. This will help the international community to engage more with the cathedral besides the local community. Moreover, being virtually available and accessible to non-Finnish people would add a positive image while ensuring proper cultural exposure.

Chatbot will be an additional part of the renovation o the cathedral website. Presently this feature is not available. Chatbot will be designed to answer questions with common keywords and suggest options if ambiguous query is detected. The chatbot will be also available with voice message function where the user can directly input voice record audio to ask question. This will ensure a different taste for the users.

There is also a third plan: to introduce sign language in both platforms- the website and the digital frescoes. As literatures show, deaf people have less understanding skills from only text. Apparently, they can use this facility to know about the services available in the cathedral.  To make them interested in the frescoes and the architectural beauty of the cathedral, they can also have interpretations of the frescoes in sign language. A click on the fresco images on the website would avail the interpretations in sign language. Besides the website, sign language would also be used in the cathedral with the digital frescoes. Therefore, the cathedral would be more accessible for the deaf community too – on the spot and virtually. The inclusion of sign language demands an extended discussion in this draft.

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