The Alba White Truffle lands in the metaverse with Hevolus Innovation and Microsoft Italy.
Alba, September 20, 2022. Hevolus Innovation and Microsoft Italy, in collaboration with the Alba International White Truffle Fair, the National Truffle Study Center, and the Piedmont Region Tourism Department, they developed the first Metaverse with the aim of offering a phygital exhibition path to help spread awareness of the supply chain of this extraordinary product of the earth, an excellence of Made in Italy, whose search and extraction in Italy have been listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since last December.
The Fair's entry into the metaverse will be presented on the occasion of Tuber Primae Noctis, the event that anticipates the start of the International Alba White Truffle Fair, officially launching the hunting season and which will be held on the night between 20th and 21st September at the Grinzane Cavour Castle, in the context of the welcome dinner of 6th edition of the Global Conference on Wine Tourism, a consolidated initiative of UNWTO.
In the park of Grinzane Cavour Castle, overlooking the wonderful panorama of the Langhe hills, the experience will be presented live by a presenter wearing Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed reality headsets and can be followed on tablets both by guests present on site and by users connected remotely.
Entering an exhibition space that perfectly blends the physical context and digital content, the presenter and visitors will move in the Metaverse with their own self-propelled and realistic-looking avatar, following an interactive narrative path to discover the White Truffle of Alba, divided into five stages: etymology and scientific context, description of the search territories, identification and extraction techniques, gourmet show cooking appointments and presentation of the Alba White Truffle World Market – a place in the historic center of Alba where you can appreciate and purchase truffles from the Langhe, Monferrato, and Roero areas.
The event can be enjoyed in the Metaverse of the Fair both in webXR, on portable devices, and in holographic augmented reality by wearing Microsoft HoloLens 2 viewers and involves spectators step by step with images, video contributions, spatial sound audio, accompanied by 3D digital twins that reproduce in high resolution a specimen of Tuber magnatum Beak and a truffle dog.
The project leverages the potential offered by Hevolus Innovation's hVerse solution, the world's first low-code platform for autonomously building enterprise metaverses, and the computational power of Microsoft's Azure cloud services to engage visitors in an innovative, simultaneous and interactive Web 4.0 experience and support the International White Truffle Fair Authority in further boosting food and wine tourism in the name of ever-increasing sustainability.
"Starting from this edition's claim, 'Time is up', we want to underline the Fair's attention to developing ever 'contemporary' projects" – he says Liliana Allena, President of the Alba International White Truffle Fair –. "This is why the challenge of climate change has inspired us to engage the younger generations, who feel the urgency to do something concrete. While our intention is to spark curiosity about the destination, we also want to explore future ways of enjoying the region, keeping in mind the travelers of tomorrow, Generation Z. Together with Microsoft Italy and thanks to a partner like Hevolus, we are delighted to be the first to offer this phygital way of enjoying our offerings, reaching those who perhaps don't travel yet and live immersed in the digital world of social media and gaming, but who will soon be the protagonists of tourist flows.".
As pointed out byCouncillor for Tourism, the Region Piemonte is always committed to innovative projects that place Piedmont at the forefront of international tourism, and thanks to the Fiera di Piemonte, we can be the first in Italy to offer visitors this type of experience.
"We believe that phygital technologies, extended reality, the Metaverse, and cloud computing can play a key role in addressing current and future social and environmental challenges, especially by helping to mitigate the impact of large-scale industrial change. All sectors today require a broad education and awareness-raising process on sustainable development goals and appropriate strategies that move in this direction. 2030 is now approaching, and sustainability is a must for everyone.”, He comments Antonio Squeo, Chief Innovation Officer of Hevolus.
"Supporting this event, so deeply rooted in the region, is an opportunity for Microsoft to highlight how digital can be an extraordinary ally in promoting Made in Italy excellence. Our long-standing collaboration with this event allows us, year after year, to create and test increasingly hybrid scenarios, combining reality and digital in an ideal combination that demonstrates how digital transformation can embrace every area and bring significant benefits to every sector. Thanks to our collaboration with our partner Hevolus and innovative technologies, we can extend the experience of the Alba International White Truffle Fair to an ever-wider audience with richer and more engaging experiences," he adds. Luba Manolova, Director of Microsoft 365 Division of Microsoft Italy.
