2. What is SaMPL Lab
SaMPL Lab is a territorial integrated laboratory of the Conservatory of Padova established
in 2010, dedicated to activities in the field of ICT for creativity, cultural heritage, arts,
media, and functional creations related to music production, conservation and
restoration.
SaMPL Lab is a multidisciplinary eco-system focusing on collaboration and business
development in the context of creative economy and cultural heritage.
Padova has a top-ranked
university, founded in
1222. The list of
professors include
Copernicus and Galileo
Galilei, it hosts the
oldest anatomy theatre
and the oldest botanical
garden in the world.
3. SaMPL Lab: organization and resources
Research partners include the University of Padova (Dep. of
Information Engineering), University IUAV of Venice (School of
Design and Arts), University of Verona (Dep. of Computer
Science), + other research centers.
Industrial partners include Confindustria Innovative and Technological
Services (over 17.000 member companies), Veneto Industrial Cluster on
Cultural Heritage (the only industrial cluster of Italy in this field), spin-off
companies and other companies in the region.
User categories include museums, festivals,
Hardware foundations, municipalities, archives (Fenice,
laboratories Arena, ASAC, ALN), RAI Milano, Discoteca di
connected to the Stato, etc.
Italian R&D network
(GARR) +
Public spaces for
public events and for
interactive
installations
4. Core expertise
Multimedia content processing
• Sound processing and 3D sound rendering
• Classification of multimedia content:
audio/image recognition, feature extraction, …
• Virtual reality and HC interfaces
• Multimodal interaction: environmental sensing,
motion capture, haptic/tactile feedback, tangible
interfaces, …
Application areas
• Active preservation of cultural heritage (interactive installations
for museum exhibits, restoration of audio documents, etc.)
• Multimedia applications (music, gaming, etc.), even on
embedded and mobile platforms (iOS, Android)
• Technology augmented learning
• Interactive systems for users with special needs (interfaces for
the blind, systems for assisted motor rehabilitation, etc.)
5. Industrial exploitation
Technology transfer
• Projects with our industrial partners, focusing on
the digital preservation and exploitation of
Cultural Heritage
• Product kit for multimodal experience of cultural
heritage: “see, touch, feel, live”.
• 3D graphics, 3D sound, haptic/tactile interaction,
olfactory display
High-tech start-ups
• Spin-off company of the University of Padova won
the 2010 “Start Cup Veneto” prize for the best
entrepreneurial project focusing on creativity and
innovative technologies for the cultural heritage.
• The same project plan classified in the top-10
projects nationwide (www.pnicube.it)
6. User/citizen involvement
Interactive installations
• “Giornata dell’ascolto” (“The listening day”), held every year.
Interactive sonic installations scattered around the city of
Padova
• “Le installazioni multimediali” (“Multimedia Installations”),
Padova (Sept. 11, 2010)
• European Researcher’s Night (Sept. 23, 2011)
• …
Concerts, conferences, events
• «Living Lab Music» festival, in collaboration
with several top composers and performers.
• 8th edition of the SMC international conference
(Creativity Rethinks Science), hosted in Padova
and organized by SaMPL. Academic conference,
open to the general public (concerts and
satellite workshops).
• Co-creative process: summer schools and
workshops with students, users, and
companies on focused strategic themes
(restoration, augmented interaction, …)
7. User/citizen involvement: DREAM
Digital Re-working/Re-appropriation of Electro-Acoustic Music
• Active preservation: permanent interactive installation at the
Milan Museum of Musical instruments, reproducing the
«electronic lutherie» of the Studio di Fonologia Musicale
Consortium
• SaMPL (sound synthesis and design), Aalborg Medialogy
(interaction design), Middlesex Un. (musicological analysis).
• RAI Milano, Milan Museum of Musical Instruments
• Interactive sound synthesis techniques
• Arduino (open-source HW/SW prototyping
platform)
• User-centered design from the beginning,
redesign based on feedback from visitors
• Hosted at a public exhibit in Rome, on innovation in post-WW2
Italy (the Studio di Fonologia is a relevant case study)
• A prototype installation has been running for > 3 months
