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# Research Proposal:

## Capturing and Analysing Cultural Heritage Data

### Background and Motivation

Cultural heritage is a vital aspect in defining our identity, world views, and perspectives as individuals and as a society. With the advancements in technology, it has become possible to gather and analyze vast amounts of heritage data, such as images, text, and audio. Despite this, there is still a need for more accessible and effective methods to explore, understand, communicate, and investigate cultural heritage.

The HeritageTogether project, led by Bangor University, aimed to digitize and preserve heritage assets while making the information accessible to the public. The project also brought to light some challenges related to heritage data, including the need for improved data collection and user-friendly interfaces.

One of the challenges faced by the HeritageTogether project was the difficulty in encouraging public engagement and contribution. Despite being well received at outreach events, the project experienced limited participation from the public. Many of the contributors ended up being enthusiastic "power-users" who generated a significant portion of the data.

The issue of converting outreach to engagement is a common problem in specialist fields, such as heritage, science, arts, humanities, and industry. The barriers to contribution are often high, and the benefits of contribution are not immediately obvious, leading to limited participation. This problem is not unique to the HeritageTogether project or the heritage sector, but rather a common issue faced by many digital projects in specialist fields.

This PhD project aims to explore new methods for capturing and analysing cultural heritage data to enhance our understanding of heritage sites and their stories. The research will focus on improving data collection and annotation, as well as developing user-friendly interfaces and visualisation tools. The objective is to demonstrate how technology can play a crucial role in preserving and promoting cultural heritage by improving access and understanding of heritage data.

This research aims to discuss innovative solutions for capturing and analysing heritage data and demonstrate the impact technology can have on preserving cultural heritage.

### Research Questions

Based on the above motivations, the following list of the research questions that were decided on for this project:

1. To what extent can machine learning and computer vision techniques be utilised to obtain valuable information fr Provide your response in exactly 3 paragraphs (separated nearby paragraphs with 3 aterisk symbols ***).
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