This paper presents a case study from the Archaeological and Via Flaminia Museum in Cagli (Italy), developed within the ERASMUS+ Next-Museum project, which explores inclusive approaches through the digital transformation of small museums and their connection to the surrounding territory. A key goal was to “return” bronze statuettes to the museum, symbolically compensating the community for their absence. The initiative integrates accessibility and multisensory storytelling following “Design for All” principles. Three installations were implemented: tactile replicas of the statuettes produced through 3D printing, a sensorized table for interactive storytelling, and a story map displayed on a touchscreen for exploring local archaeological heritage. The design prioritized inclusivity, particularly for visitors with visual impairments, while addressing practical constraints such as the need for a mobile and flexible setup within a limited budget. Verification and validation tests were conducted with visually impaired participants during the pre-opening phase, and the installations were later evaluated using the User Experience Questionnaire, complemented by qualitative feedback. These evaluations highlight the potential of phygital experiences to foster engagement with cultural heritage while addressing technological and design challenges.

Small and medium-sized museums have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they often have limited resources and staff to manage the challenges posed by the pandemic. In order for them to survive during the pandemic but also embracing the extensive use of technology in our everyday lives, museums have to adapt to this new reality. The aim of the Museum-Next project is to provide small and medium-sized museums with a new generation of specialised EU professionals working in the Cultural Heritage sector, equipped with a recognised, cross-cutting and high-level digital skillset: the Digital Curators. In the digital age, museum digital curators play a critical role in preserving, organising, and presenting museum collections online. As part of the project, our research performed a desk analysis on the state of the art on museum digital transition strategies and museum digital curator training programs already implemented at EU scale in order to map good practices and tools already existing so as to highlight the current situation and the gaps that may appear in the topic.

This study presents a methodology integrating above-ground and underground 3D survey data within a Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM) framework, further developed into an eXtended Reality (XR) environment. The historic centre of Cagli (Italy), with its stratified architectural and archaeological layers, served as a pilot case. Data acquisition included Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), UAV photogrammetry, and 3D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), producing detailed georeferenced datasets of buildings and subsurface anomalies. These were modeled as parametric volumes in an HBIM environment and enriched with structured metadata, including geometry, historical sources, and risk information. The HBIM model was seamlessly integrated within an XR application built in Unity and connected with Google Cloud services, enabling real-time data exchange. Users can interact with the 3D model using a Mixed Reality (MR) headset, accessing metadata and uploading new information on-site. The system supports scenarios such as post-earthquake assessment by associating building records with standardized forms. Results demonstrate the potential of connecting HBIM with XR not only for enhanced visualization, but also for collaborative heritage management in situ. Integration allows for intuitive, data-driven exploration of complex heritage layers, facilitating decision-making processes and opening new perspectives for monitoring, documenting, and engaging with historic urban environments. The proposed workflow is replicable and adaptable to other historic villages, which, despite their unique identities, often pose similar conservation challenges due to their layered complexity and vulnerability.