Communication and Artificial Intelligence Support for a Paleontology and Natural Science Museum

The paper presents the strategic design choices for the Paleontology and Natural Sciences Museum ("Museo di Scienze Naturali e del Territorio") located in the medieval "Castle" in Lerici (La Spezia, Italy). The choices were made in order to highlight the contrasting "natural - artificial" context within the "very remote - past - present" space- time dimension in which the visitor is "immersed". This is done by exhibiting both the prehistoric remains and the castle itself through many forms of technological support, including multimedia interactive applications and artificial intelligence functions alongside computerized simulations.