Digital Armungia.
Culture, nature and memory within smartphone reach.
The Big Wave brought the Fenicio® Smart Environmental Monitoring platform to Armungia: five BLE beacons, a free app for iOS and Android and a management dashboard for the Municipality — to experience the village in a new way.
The project
Digital enhancement of Armungia’s heritage
Armungia is a village in Sardinia with a thousand-year history: Nuragic heritage, rural tradition, the Flumendosa river and the route of the Sentiero Italia. It is also the birthplace of Emilio Lussu, an emblematic figure in twentieth-century Sardinian and Italian history.
With the contribution of the PNRR — Borghi Enterprises Call, The Big Wave created an integrated digital ecosystem to make all this accessible, narratable and monitorable, focusing on useful innovation, inclusion and environmental sustainability.
The technology
Fenicio® Smart Environmental Monitoring
A specialized version of the Fenicio® platform that integrates IoT, artificial intelligence and Digital Twin to collect real-time data, deliver contextual multimedia content and monitor the environment in sites of interest. The architecture is structured on three levels:
1
Edge Layer — BLE beacons in the field
Five compact, long-life battery-powered devices, positioned at points of interest. They detect user proximity and transmit environmental data without the need for fixed electrical infrastructure — ideal for sensitive historical and natural contexts.
2
App Layer — Mobile application
A cross-platform app (iOS and Android) that receives BLE signals and starts the contextual audioguide with texts, images and videos. It also works offline for basic content — essential in villages with limited network coverage.
3
Dashboard Layer — Management for the Municipality
A web platform reserved for the managing authority: real-time environmental monitoring, analysis of visitor flows, configurable predictive alerts, exportable reporting and integration with the Digital Twin for sustainable planning simulations.
Apple App Store
▶ Google Play Store
Points of interest
Five beacons, five stories to listen to
Each beacon activates an original audioguide, developed with the support of The Big Wave’s Scientific Committee and the CNR-ISEM of Cagliari, ensuring the historical and scientific accuracy of the content.
Beacon 1
Nuraghe Armungia
Polygonal construction technique, defensive and symbolic function of the tower, historical and archaeological context of Gerrei. With references to excavations conducted in the territory and to local museum collections.
Beacon 2
Museum “Sa Domu de is Ainas”
The House of Tools: a journey into rural Sardinia between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, through tools, agricultural practices, bread and wool processing, and the memory of the local community.
Beacon 3
Town Hall Square
The civic history of the village and the figure of Emilio Lussu — founder of the Sardinian Action Party, anti-fascist, author of “Marcia su Roma e dintorni”. A window onto twentieth-century Sardinia.
Beacon 4
Armungia Cemetery
The cemetery as an archive of collective memory: prominent figures in local history, tombstones as historical sources. A respectful and culturally enriched narrative of the village’s identity.
Beacon 5
Bridge over the Flumendosa
History of the bridge and its role in local connections. Environmental education content on the Flumendosa river, the river biodiversity of Gerrei and the section of the Sentiero Italia that crosses the municipal territory. Information dedicated to hikers and enthusiasts of slow and nature tourism.
Environmental monitoring
The parameters detected by the sensor network
The beacons build a continuous and georeferenced information base on the microclimate and environmental quality in the monitored sites, useful for assessing the impact of tourist flows on historical structures and the river ecosystem.
✓ Air temperature
✓ Relative humidity
Air quality (VOC, CO₂) — coming soon
Environmental noise levels — coming soon
Structural vibrations — coming soon
Universal accessibility
Designed for everyone
In line with The Big Wave’s founding values and with current regulations (Legislative Decree 82/2005, AGID Guidelines), the app was designed to guarantee use by all types of users, regardless of their abilities.
Screen reader (VoiceOver / TalkBack)
Automatic speech synthesis
High contrast
Scalable fonts
Offline mode
Simplified navigation
Results achieved
What has been created
Online information platform dedicated to Armungia, with descriptive sheets, videos and in-depth content on history, culture and territory.
Mobile app published on Apple App Store and Google Play, integrated with five BLE beacons at the village’s main points of interest.
Five original audioguides: Nuraghe Armungia, Museum “Sa Domu de is Ainas”, Town Hall Square, Armungia Cemetery, Bridge over the Flumendosa.
Distributed environmental monitoring system active on the sites of interest, with real-time detection of temperature and humidity.
Management dashboard activated for the Municipality, with analysis of visitor flows, predictive alerts and exportable reporting.
Interactive georeferenced map of the five points of interest and the routes across the territory.
Reusable tool for local information, dissemination and educational activities.
Expected impact
Five dimensions of value for the territory
Tourism
Immersive experiences to attract and retain visitors interested in cultural and nature tourism.
Cultural
Preservation and transmission of the village’s identity and memory heritage through accessible digital tools.
Environmental
Launch of a distributed microclimate monitoring system for sustainable territorial management.
Social
Universal accessibility to local cultural heritage for users with sensory and cognitive disabilities.
Economic
Support for the increase of tourist flows, with positive effects on the local economy and territorial activities.
