HOC-LAB - HYPERMEDIA OPEN CENTER Laboratory
DEIB Research labs

HOC-LAB - HYPERMEDIA OPEN CENTER Laboratory

Activities

HOC-LAB is a multidisciplinary laboratory open to researchers with different backgrounds, from technology to humanities.

It has been active since 1997 in the field of technology-enhanced communication, with two main application sectors:

  • Innovative education, from school to higher education
  • Cultural heritage communication


HOC-LAB
develops methodologies (for design, usability, ...) and tools (3D collaborative worlds, digital storytelling, educational “chatbots”, ...) original, to support solutions and “experiences” on a large scale, not confined to an experimental context.

HOC-LAB has participated in a high number of research projects (over 30), in many cases with a coordination function.

Combining technology, creativity and communication is the challenge of HOC.

Service information

A part of the laboratory is located in the building 21, Via Golgi 39. Over the years HOC has cooperated with various prestigious partners, both in Italy and abroad, among which we can name the following: Intel, Microsoft, EPSON, Accenture International Foundation, the Syrian Ministry for Tourism and Culture, the Staatliche Museen of Berlin, the Israel Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the national museum of Science and Technology “Leonardo da Vinci” of Milan, the Archaeological Museum of Milan, the General Directorate for Antiquities of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage.
More information is available on Lab's website.

Cover of the multimedia narrative created using the 1001storia digital storytelling authoring tool, dedicated to the exhibition "BRAMANTINO: The Adoration of the Magi". Virtual environment with four avatars looking at three suspended red screens, each displaying a different landscape image. Below the screens, three chat windows with messages in Italian are visible. Woman wearing headphones looks at her phone and listens to a multimedia guide while visiting an art gallery exhibition. Photographs are displayed on the walls. Children cheer and clap, with a girl in the center raising her arms in the air during the award ceremony of Policultura, a digital storytelling competition for schools.