Category: Case History EN

On the occasion of the National Assembly of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), an experiential and exhibition context called “CAI Village” was developed at the Ducal Gardens in Modena.

The initiative combined geographic 3D modeling with extended reality on head-mounted displays.

Visitors were able to explore the Matterhorn and relive the authentic traverse undertaken by instructors from the Modena CAI section, who ascended from the Italian side and descended from the Swiss side.

The digitized 3D model offered an accurate perception of the stairs and slopes, impossible to achieve with traditional media.
The climbers’ route was not a simple line, but a narrative axis; users activated multimedia memories directly at the geographic points where they were recorded.

This technology represents a fundamental evolution for local museums, often limited by limited physical spaces and static exhibits.
Dedicated museums can archive and render historical or contemporary great climbs infinite, and these feats become permanent interactive itineraries that visitors can virtually walk.
High-altitude mountains are by their very nature elitist, accessible only to physically fit and expert mountaineers: in these cases, extended reality breaks down these barriers and allows children, the elderly, and those with mobility disabilities to “experience” the summit.

Sector: Interior Design / Luxury Real Estate / Interior Architecture

Immersive Interior Design and Emotional Personalisation.

A leading real estate and design agency needed to market a prestigious four-unit villa before the first stone had even been laid. The main challenge in the real estate sector is bridging the client’s “imagination gap”: even today, despite photorealistic static imagery (the render) being the de facto standard, it is hard to go from an empty plot of land to an emotional perception of one’s future home.

The starting point was the 2D and 3D digital foundations provided by the design studio, and a solid technical collaboration with architect Sergio Brancolini — capturing every architectural detail and the client’s specifications to ensure that the XR model was the exact transposition of the design vision.

Applying our photorealistic texturing and dynamic lighting process, we transformed a technical drawing into a vibrant living experience, modelled with precision to be “anchored” exactly to the coordinates of the real plot of land.

Using XR headsets, prospective buyers were able to walk in real time on the undeveloped land, watching the villa’s volume appear exactly where it will be built, and walk around it (using our HDT Build App). After allowing clients to perceive the external volumes of the four-unit villa, the challenge shifted indoors: physically entering the rooms and observing the view from windows that do not yet exist, perceiving the spaces, assessing ceiling heights, room depth and the layout of furnishings at 1:1 scale.

We transformed a project still on paper into a home ready to be lived in: if the exterior sells the investment, the interior sells the daily emotion. The buyer no longer simply “bought a home” — they “began to live in it” months before the keys were handed over.

App used: HDT Room.

Sector: Interior Design / Hospitality / Historic Renovation

Design Validation and Immersive Interior Design for Prestige Hospitality.

In a high-level renovation project, the challenge is not only aesthetic but logistical. This case study demonstrates how XR (Extended Reality) is the definitive tool for eliminating the margin of error in furnishing luxury hospitality venues, transforming furniture selection from an act of faith into millimetric certainty.

A private client was completing the transformation of a prestigious historic palazzo near the centre of Modena into holiday apartments. The main challenge lay in validating the furnishings: the selected pieces had to integrate perfectly into historic volumes and spaces optimised for guest accommodation. The risk? Purchasing bulky furniture, items that clashed chromatically, or — worse — pieces that obstructed guest movement flows.

Starting from the technical survey of the palazzo and the catalogue of selected furnishings, we created a digital twin of the apartments. Rather than limiting ourselves to a static render, we implemented a 1:1-scale XR solution. Our approach allowed the client to put on the headsets and “inhabit” the apartments before a single shelf had been mounted. Thanks to real-time object manipulation, we allowed furniture to be moved interactively: checking passageways and the fluidity of circulation routes, resizing or repositioning elements that, in the virtual world, proved too impactful for a comfortable stay.

The use of immersive reality eliminated decision-making uncertainty. The client was able to confirm supply orders with the mathematical certainty that every piece was appropriate to the space, with no returns or post-delivery modifications. XR sessions condensed weeks of doubt into a few minutes of direct experience, accelerating the completion of the interior design project.

The project demonstrated that, in the prestige holiday rental market, technology is not an aesthetic indulgence but a guarantee of architectural quality and investment security.

App used: HDT Home.

Sector: Mechanical Industry / Trade Fair Exhibitions / Industrial Design / Training

Digital marketing, model interaction and prototyping.

In this digital marketing project, XR technology was used as a tool for visualising and interacting with the digital model of products in order to appreciate hidden internal details.

The client required a new way of presenting products at international trade fairs, where it is not possible or practical to show the internal details of technical components. The main challenges involved the ability to interact simply with the digital model, as well as visualising particular component movements and related technical information in the chosen language — all while maintaining a high level of visual realism inside the stand.

Using the HDT OBJ App, we created an immersive experience in which visitors could interact simply with the digital twin, navigating inside the product where every detail could be visualised by defining cross-sections and scale dimensions appropriate for optimal analysis.

Thanks to the simulation, and to the video wall showing the audience the interaction between human and digital twin, the trade fair stand attracted a large portion of the visitors present, renewing the company’s marketing proposition.

The company can continue to use the APP on-site or at client premises to strengthen its marketing proposition in an innovative way and, above all, at real scale — as if the physical product were present. The ability to use these tools at international fairs in distant countries, where set-up and transport costs are significant, allows savings on marketing budgets while also improving ESG metrics by replacing CO₂-intensive transportation with digital assets.

App used: HDT Obj.

Sector: Smart City / Tourism / Edutainment

The Historic Centre in Miniature: An Immersive Experience between Urban Studies and Tourism.

There is an ancestral fascination in viewing the world from above, as if looking at a scale model. We took this concept and elevated it to the highest level of technological power, reconstructing the entire historic centre of Modena in a miniature XR model. An experience that allows citizens and tourists to “visually possess” the city, exploring every corner from a privileged, interactive perspective.

Orienting oneself in a city of art or understanding its urban evolution is not always straightforward. Paper maps are static and standard navigation apps lack three-dimensional emotional engagement. There was a need for a tool that combined the precision of a technical survey with the magic of a playful and educational experience, capable of telling Modena’s story both to tourists seeing it for the first time and to residents wanting to rediscover it.

Through a high-precision polygonal optimisation process, we brought the heart of Modena into our XR headsets. Users do not simply look at a photograph: they can walk around the reconstructed historic centre, crouch down to see the details of the Cathedral or the historic canals (now underground) and perceive the dialogue between the great architectural volumes.

An ideal tool for tourist information points, museums or schools, where spatial understanding becomes immediate, overcoming all language or abstract barriers. Tourists gain an instant “mental map” of the city, enhancing the quality of their visit, while the local authority has an innovative tool for territorial marketing and participatory planning.

App used: HDT Miniature.

Sector: Architecture / Real Estate / Interior Design

Immersive Real-Time Pre-Visualisation for Prestige Real Estate.

This case is fundamental because it shifts the focus to commercial concreteness and luxury real estate, addressing “future and purchasing decisions” and demonstrating that XR reality is not “an alternative” to traditional design, but its natural enhancement.

A leading real estate and design agency needed to market a prestigious four-unit villa before the first stone had even been laid. The main challenge in the real estate sector is bridging the client’s “imagination gap”: even today, despite photorealistic static imagery being the de facto standard, it is hard to go from an empty plot of land to an emotional perception of one’s future home.

The starting point was the 2D and 3D digital foundations provided by the design studio, and a solid technical collaboration with architect Sergio Brancolini. Applying our photorealistic texturing and dynamic lighting process, we transformed a technical drawing into a vibrant living experience, modelled with precision to be “anchored” exactly to the coordinates of the real plot of land.

Using XR headsets, prospective buyers were able to walk in real time on the undeveloped land, watching the villa’s volume appear exactly where it will be built. Moving around the virtual structure at 1:1 scale, they were able to admire its aesthetic impact, the balance of proportions and the perfect architectural integration of volumes into the surrounding landscape.

The preliminary visualisation of the exterior allowed solar exposure on the facades to be assessed and every aesthetic detail to be refined before the first excavation. The result was described as “exceptional” by the agency, as it removed all buyer uncertainty, dramatically accelerating the closure of negotiations and positioning the agency’s brand as a technology leader in the real estate market.

App used: HDT Build.

Sector: Cultural Heritage / Urban Studies / Architecture

Philological reconstruction of the former Palace of Justice of Modena.

In 1963, the urban fabric of Modena — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — suffered a profound controversy: the demolition of the former Palace of Justice in Piazza Grande to make way for a modern building (the current Cassa di Risparmio bank premises). Our aim was twofold: to restore the public’s perception of the original volumes and to enable a critical study of a vanished piece of the city, leaving no room for approximation.

The project followed a rigorous methodology: geometric reconstruction based on period cadastral maps, archive photographs and historical surveys. The modelling respected exact volumetric ratios to guarantee architectural precision, with the use of advanced tools for generating textures consistent with the materials of the time (stone, brick and nineteenth-century finishes), restoring realism to surfaces of which only black-and-white photographs remained.

Users were able to experience the reconstruction through two complementary modes:

• At 1:1 scale (XR): Wearing the visor, the user found themselves physically standing in front of the Palazzo in Piazza Grande. This scale allowed them to perceive the original urban impact and the shadow the building cast over the square, highlighting the lost dialogue with the historic monuments still standing today.
• In miniature (XR): An “architect’s eye view” for analysing the palazzo as a physical object on a virtual table, allowing decorative details to be observed that would otherwise be difficult to appreciate at full size.

The virtual project allowed new generations to visually understand what many describe as an urban planning mistake. The experience generated a powerful emotional impact, demonstrating how XR can serve as a “time machine” for the symbolic repair of historical damage.

App used: HDT Heritage.

Sector: Museum / Archaeology / Social (Inclusivity)

Virtual reconstruction and manipulation of archaeological objects for Inclusive Accessibility.

This case study is extraordinary because it shifts attention to two topics of great social value: universal accessibility and virtual tactile interaction. The idea of “extracting” an object from an unbreakable display case to allow anyone to study it up close is the dream of every museum curator.

Archaeological museums often house small artefacts enclosed in display cases that limit volumetric and tactile understanding. The success of this project is the result of close synergy with the Museo Simonini of Castelfranco Emilia and its director, Dr Diana Neri, whose far-sighted vision made it possible to experiment with these technologies towards genuine scientific and educational utility, for inclusive enjoyment of archaeological heritage.

In the case of Museo Simonini, the challenge was to allow visitors to examine the details of bronze ingots (Aes Signatum) dating from the 6th–5th century BC (Iron Age), discovered at the end of the nineteenth century inside a large ceramic vessel. These artefacts are fundamental for reconstructing the trade routes and economy of the populations that inhabited the Castelfranco Emilia area thousands of years ago.

The artefacts were digitally modelled with extreme realism, creating high-fidelity “digital twins” that reproduce every engraving and porosity of the original material. Using state-of-the-art headsets, and approaching the display case, the visitor can virtually “extract” the ingot from behind the glass with a simple hand gesture, rotating and enlarging it in the physical space in front of them.

The experience was enriched with Italian Sign Language (ISL) videos: instead of having to read external panels, the user views an ISL video integrated into the XR environment, which explains the history and use of the ingots in a natural and immersive way. The project transforms Museo Simonini into a benchmark of excellence for museum accessibility.

App used: HDT Museum.

Sector: Museum / Cultural Heritage / Urban Studies / Architecture

Philological reconstruction of the defensive elements and original aesthetic appearance of the Rocca di Vignola (MO).

The Rocca di Vignola is one of the most beautiful and interesting medieval fortifications in Italy, thanks to the Fondazione di Vignola, the castle’s owner, which stands out for its excellent maintenance and management of the asset. Being a complex sedimentation of history and architecture, the idea of showing and animating defensive elements now long gone — allowing users to understand their mechanical operation — and restoring the original fifteenth-century aesthetic, when the towers were not “bare stone” but richly decorated, without touching or altering the real structure, struck us as an important “intersection” between the evolution of siege warfare techniques and noble identity.

In this project, the physical building was used as the load-bearing structure for the digital model, with three-dimensional modelling carried out to overlay the 3D model onto the existing structure with precision. This allowed the real fortress to be used as an “anchor” for the virtual elements.

Drawbridges and defensive systems were reconstructed following the assessments of experts in castellology and fortified architecture from the Italian Institute of Castles, ensuring that the movement animations were mechanically plausible.

Drawing on the beautiful “Tracce in Luce” project with its scientific analysis of the minimal pictorial traces still in existence — where colour and heraldry have returned to communicate the castle’s rank — we used vectorisation and texturing techniques to virtually reconstruct the patterns that once adorned the towers, restoring them to their original polychrome splendour.

The experience for the user wearing the XR visor will be like a “walk” in the 15th century around the fortress. As they approach the entrances, virtual drawbridges will activate, revealing the complex system of counterweights, pins and chains at real scale. Looking up at the towers, the visor will in real time add fifteenth-century colours to the current walls, allowing the decorative scheme to be restored without the need for invasive restorations or scaffolding.

Thanks to the 1:1 scale, the perception of volume and defensive power is total, transforming a static visit into an interactive history lesson. The result: an immediate understanding of military architecture concepts that would be complex to explain using only two-dimensional panels.

App used: HDT Heritage.