5th DARIAH-HR International Conference
Digital Humanities & Heritage 2025
22–24 October 2025
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek – Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek and Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek

Conference workshops 2025

22 October 2025: 9:00 – 15:00 (Workshop 1)

Annotating Audiovisual Corpora in the Humanities

The Consortium for Annotation, Analysis and Archiving of Video Applied to Scientific Activities (Canevas) is accredited since 2022 by the French research infrastructure for Digital Humanities Huma-Num. Since April 2025, this consortium has been receiving European EOSC-OSCARS funding for a period of 24 months, which has given rise to the OASIS project (Open Audiovisual Science Innovation Scheme). The aim of Canevas and OASIS is to facilitate research in the humanities and social sciences involving audiovisual corpora by facilitating actions such as archiving, annotating, commenting, analysing, and sharing videos. To do this, the members of the Canevas consortium have created two tools, Celluloid (for annotating corpora on media studies and media literacy) and e-spect@tor (for annotating corpora on the performing arts, especially theater), which enable collaborative annotation of videos for research or teaching purposes. These are free and open source tools (https://github.com/celluloid-camp/) that comply with open science and FAIR data standards, while leveraging AI to promote the intelligibility of videos and the interactions that result from them.

As part of the OASIS project, and in collaboration with the DARIAH Working Group “Visual Media and Interactivity” (https://www.dariah.eu/activities/working-groups/visual-media-and-interactivity/), the Canevas Consortium is organising a workshop during the pre-conference day of the 5th DARIAH-HR International Conference, which will take place on Wednesday 22 October 2025. This workshop will be divided into two 3-hour sessions. The first will take place on Wednesday morning and aims to introduce participants to the PeerTube technology, developed by the French education-oriented video network Framasoft to offer an alternative to the services provided by the GAFAM, and particularly the online video hosting platform Youtube, and thus promote digital empowerment. The second session, on Wednesday afternoon, will be devoted to learning how to use the Celluloid and e-spect@tor tools. We invite you to discover collaborative annotation through your own audiovisual corpus, enabling you to develop new skills adapted to the changes of media practices and the epistemological issues that come with them. During this second session, we will focus on specific features provided by these tools: some are automated using AI, such as audio transcription and video segmentation into chapters, while others can be done manually and allow users to enrich their viewing experience through the traces they leave behind.

By renewing interactions and collaborations with these digital tools, this workshop aims to introduce participants, from all disciplines and all levels of video expertise, to our research methods while allowing to acquire new skills to foster a convergence culture around video archiving and annotations. These can then be deployed in various educational or research contexts, which can be enhanced, for instance, with group work in the classroom, or in research carried out by researchers in training (Masters, PhD) or more experienced researchers.

To participate, please register using this Google Form link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfisUbsAIAeiOVzZnKGAd9RPsepnrYABT9acQ7geQgLb75ISA/viewform

NB: to get the most out of this workshop, please bring your own computer. It is also possible to follow this workshop with one computer for several people. Moreover, if you want to explore part of one of your corpora, you can send us one of your videos. All video formats are welcome.

22 October 2025: 9:00 – 17:00 (Workshop 2, 22-23 October)

Heritage in the Cloud

Laser scanning technology, point clouds, and photogrammetry are contemporary methods that significantly enhance the processes of documenting and preserving architectural heritage. The data obtained provide a basis for the creation of digital 3D models, orthophotography, and technical documentation, thereby ensuring objective and lasting records. By integrating laser scanning and photogrammetry, it is possible to achieve an optimal balance between accuracy and visual quality. The outcomes of these processes are applied in research, the planning of conservation interventions, the development of reconstruction projects, and in the presentation of cultural heritage to the broader public through virtual displays. In this way, digital technologies contribute to the long-term protection, understanding, and valorisation of architectural heritage. Within the Heritage in the Cloud workshop, held in the village of Karanac, participants will be introduced to laser scanning, photogrammetric photography, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to collect photographic material for photogrammetry and orthophotography. The ethnographic collection The Street of Forgotten Time in Karanac, comprising 847 objects, has been inscribed in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia, under the ownership of Vladimir Škrobo – Bajo, and declared a protected cultural asset. The collection is exhibited in the courtyard of the restaurant Baranjska kuća in Karanac (Kolodvorska 99), integrated into traditional wooden barns and other rural structures made of timber and adobe. On the first day of the workshop, spatial data for all buildings on the estate will be collected using UAV photography, with a detailed demonstration of point-cloud generation using one barn as an example. On the second day, at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture in Osijek, the methodology of data integration and the creation of a detailed 3D model of a traditional wooden structure (barn) will be presented. Participants will acquire the terminology of the demonstrated technologies and become familiar with the methodology and potential results of applying contemporary tools for documenting architectural heritage.

22 October 2025: 9:30 – 13:00 (Workshop 3)

Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, and Research Infrastructure: How Research and Cultural Heritage Should Approach the Opportunities and Risks of New AI Technologies

There is no need to launch into a series of platitudes about the revolutionary changes to the research and cultural heritage sector that is occasioned by the development, and general proliferation, of Artificial Intelligence, and particularly Generative AI. Nevertheless, it is urgent to focus today on the impact, opportunities, and risks of these technologies as they remain "new" : in essence, now is the time to implement policies and strategies, while the novelty of AI means that habits have not yet become ingrained in our daily practices. Therefore, it is crucial to define what the strategy should be for a research infrastructure at the nexus of humanities research and cultural heritage, like DARIAH-EU.

One of the largest challenges facing the SSH research sector, and particularly DARIAH is how to approach the use of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom. This is not just about providing resources to educators for how to teach the responsible use of the rapidly-evolving subject that is AI, but also how to teach any subject now that generative AI technologies are readily available for use by students. This is having profound effects on the pedagogical sector, and DARIAH must develop tools to help accompany our communities to teaching and using AI in the classroom responsibly.

The need for high-quality training data for generative AI makes cultural heritage datasets a precious commodity, even more so as institutions are being torn between open access principles and the significant costs engendered by the voracious appetite of AI systems. This is even more so as these costs are borne by (mostly publicly-financed) Cultural Heritage Institutions (CHIs), the benefits of AI models trained on them are kept by (often non-European) private companies. Thus, CHIs are tasked with a large legal and ethical barrier, as shutting off access also puts up barriers for legitimate research purposes. In this complex and complicated ecosystem, DARIAH has a role to play in helping to guide collections data to researchers and to help develop sovereign, multilingual training sets, while ensuring that the infrastructural costs remain reasonable.

Another important aspect that a research infrastructure like DARIAH must consider is that of combatting in-built biases in training data and models, so that the AI models created are more trustworthy and ethical. By developing ethical standards and particular points of attention, we can help our research and cultural heritage communities develop responsible AI.

Last, but certainly not least, comes the question of how to provide high-performance computing necessary for training AI models to researchers working for the public good. It is natural that a research infrastructure such as DARIAH reflects on the very infrastructural questions, but does so with keeping ethics in mind: how does one ensure appropriate and easy access to the research community, while balancing the large financial, and environmental, costs engendered by providing HPC.

The ambition for this workshop, then, is to present the current conclusions of the DARIAH National Coordinator's Committee (NCC) Task Force on AI Governance and Ethics and to brainstorm with the community on what we have developed, and where we should improve. After a series of presentations on each of our areas of interest, we will open for questions and analysis from the community to ensure that we develop a robust, applicable, and grounded strategy for DARIAH, on a European and national level.

22 October 2025: 15:00 – 17:30 (Workshop 4)

From Idea to Digital Prototype of a Mobile Application in the Field of Culture and Arts

The aim of this workshop is to develop a short concept for a mobile application in the field of culture and arts and transform it into a digital prototype suitable for presentation. The initial idea will be elaborated in order to define its purpose, target users, and technical requirements. After that, a rough sketch of the user interface will be created. In the final phase, a high-fidelity digital user interface will be developed, allowing for navigation through the interface and sharing the application prototype online. The workshop is scheduled to last three hours.

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