PixelGrams

A virtual journey into the Grotta dei Cervi of Porto Badisco

An immersive, multi-character VR experience hosted at the Castello Aragonese di Otranto — giving access to one of Europe's most significant Neolithic cave sanctuaries, closed to the public since 1987.

Digital Heritage & Multimedia · University of Bologna · A.Y. 2024/25
CineFiles25 — Bortoli · Chen · Romanello

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🌐 Live Site

cinefiles25.github.io/PixelGrams

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📎 Project Materials

Material	Link
🌐 Website	cinefiles25.github.io/PixelGrams
📄 Design Brief	cinefiles25.github.io/PixelGrams/design_brief.html
🎮 Twine Prototype	cinefiles25.github.io/PixelGrams/twine/index.html
🎨 Hi-Fi Figma Prototype	View on Figma
📐 Lo-Fi Figma Wireframes	View on Figma

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🦌 The Project

The Grotta dei Cervi (Cave of the Deer) of Porto Badisco is one of the most significant Neolithic cave sanctuaries in the Mediterranean. Discovered in 1970, its walls are covered in thousands of pictograms painted in red ochre and black guano — abstract spirals, figurative hunters, shamans, deer. It has been closed to the public since 1987: human presence would destroy the fragile microclimate preserving the paintings.

PixelGrams makes the cave accessible through an immersive VR experience hosted at the Castello Aragonese di Otranto — already home to a permanent exhibition on the cave. Visitors choose one of five character roles and descend into the Neolithic past. Education happens through immersion, not instruction.

The guiding metaphor: the user journey is the descent into darkness.

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🎭 The Five Roles

Role	Arc
Shaman	Performs the ritual. Interprets phosphenes as visions.
Guardian	Protects the sacred site. Seeks power in darkness.
Devotee I	Seeks communication with ancestors.
Devotee II	Brings a votive offering. Asks something of the deity.
Dancer	Keeper of movement and trance. Does not choose to come — is called.

All paths converge in the Sanctuary, where the handprint ceiling awaits. Outside the VR, a touch-reactive LED screen collects the handprints of all visitors over time.

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👥 Team & Roles

Member	Contributions
Laura Bortoli	Ideation · Lo-Fi Prototype · Storyboard · Website
Qinghao Chen	Ideation · Twine · Interpretation · Mid-Fi Prototype
Claudia Romanello	Ideation · Research · Hi-Fi Prototype · Presentation

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🗂 Repository Structure

PixelGrams/
├── assets/
│   ├── fonts/          # IM Fell English (Regular + Italic)
│   └── imgs/           # Cave photography and visual assets
├── docs/               # Project documentation and diagrams
│   └── personas/       # Persona PDFs
├── figma/              # Figma export files
├── twine/              # Twine narrative prototype
│   └── index.html
├── design_brief.html   # Full design brief
├── index.html          # Homepage

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🏛 Context

• Museum: Castello Aragonese di Otranto (host institution)
• Site: Grotta dei Cervi, Porto Badisco, Lecce, Puglia
• Cave closed since: 1987
• Course: Digital Heritage and Multimedia · University of Bologna · A.Y. 2024/25
  • Module A: Interaction Media Design — Prof. Sofia Pescarin
  • Module B: Museology, Museography and Virtual Environments — Prof. Chiara Tartarini

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🎨 Visual Identity

The design system is drawn directly from the cave's own artistic vocabulary:

• Red Ochre #8B3A2A · Black Guano #1C1A17 · Limestone Beige #C9B99A
• Typeface: Cormorant Garamond (website) · IM Fell English (Figma prototype)
• Motifs: phosphenic forms — spirals, concentric circles, labyrinths, grids

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University of Bologna · Digital Heritage & Multimedia · 2024/25