Why Preserving History Matters More Than Ever

Take a moment to think about the last museum or historic building you visited. The creak of wooden floors, the weight of stone walls, the glass cases filled with objects from another time. These spaces connect us to our shared past in a way that’s almost magical.

But right now, across the world, these places, and the stories they hold, are more vulnerable than ever. From conflict to climate change, the physical fabric of our history is under strain.

Now of course, this strain isn’t new and nor is the instinct to preserve. For centuries, people have fought to protect their heritage from war, neglect, or natural disaster. What’s changing now is the way we can respond. As technology evolves, so do our tools for safeguarding culture.

Digital preservation may lose the tactile, physical nature of history, but it ensures heritage isn’t lost to the rubble of war or eroded by time. History may go unnoticed, but it doesn’t have to be lost. Digital archives act as blueprints, detailed reconstructions that can guide restoration, rebuild lost originals, and open the door to more creative ways of sharing heritage artifacts with the world.

At SENSEcity, we’ve been thinking deeply about this shift, and we’d like to share why it matters and how it could shape the future of heritage.

Ruined building in Saint Petersburg, Russia by Red Shuheart

The Fragility of Physical Heritage

Museums, archives, and historic buildings have been the heart of cultural preservation for centuries. They are the gold standard for experiencing heritage; you can walk through a building where generations have stood, or see an artefact up close and understand its weight, scale, and craftsmanship.

Yet physical preservation has its limits:

• Conflict and instability can destroy heritage sites overnight.

• Climate change and natural disasters accelerate erosion, flooding, and decay.

• Limited access means many collections are only viewable by those who can travel to them.

Physical spaces are invaluable, but they’re not invincible.

The Grand Hotel in Kupari bay, Dubrovnik

Digital Preservation as Cultural Insurance

Digital preservation doesn’t replace the physical it protects, extends, and amplifies it. Through high-resolution scanning, 3D modelling, photogrammetry, and extended reality, we can create living records of buildings, artefacts, and even oral histories.

The benefits are powerful:

• Global access: Anyone, anywhere can experience a piece of heritage.

• Resilience: Digital records can survive even if the original is lost.

• Innovation: Digital tools create new ways of learning and interacting with history.

In short, digital preservation is cultural insurance for a rapidly changing world.

Augmented Reality experience for Historistage by SENSEcity. Click the photo to see more about the project!

From Archiving to Storytelling

What excites us most is that digital preservation isn’t just about saving data, it’s about sharing stories. Through immersive experiences, people can explore memories, listen to voices from the past, and walk virtually through places they may never visit physically.

This shift from static archives to dynamic storytelling transforms how we understand and engage with our history. It can also democratise access to culture, making it more inclusive for people who have been excluded from traditional heritage spaces.

The Role We’re Playing

At SENSEcity, we’re driven by a belief that technology can help communities protect and celebrate their heritage, not just record it. Our Historiscope installations have already brought hidden stories to life for over 150,000 visitors at heritage sites across the UK, turning passive sightseeing into interactive, memory-rich experiences. Our work with The Belfast Memory Machine went a step further, capturing lived experiences from across the city and blending them with immersive technology to preserve voices that might otherwise be lost. 

While we don’t carry out the scanning or archiving ourselves, we help transform this digital preservation work into compelling, visitor-ready experiences. By taking preserved data and weaving it into storytelling and AR, we show how cultural records can become living, interactive encounters rather than static files. This is where digital preservation reaches the public: it becomes something people can touch, explore, and emotionally connect with.

We’re also inspired by other organisations leading the way in digital preservation:

• Pixelated Realities is a non-profit based in Ukraine using 3D scanning, photogrammetry, and immersive technologies to safeguard cultural heritage under threat. Since the Russian invasion in 2022, they’ve launched The Museum of UA Victory: a digital archive of buildings, monuments, and everyday objects damaged or destroyed by war. Beyond emergency documentation, Pixelated Realities also trains artists, architects, and communities in digital preservation skills, helping to grow a new generation of specialists at the intersection of culture and technology.

• The Museum of Stolen Art is a digital archive and exhibition space dedicated to artworks that have been stolen, destroyed, or disappeared; with a focus on those lost as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By presenting detailed digital copies of these works, the Museum keeps their stories visible, sparks global awareness of cultural loss, and challenges how we think about ownership, restitution, and memory in times of conflict. It’s both a record of what’s been taken and a powerful reminder of why cultural preservation matters.

The real vs the digital: Posthumous portrait of Kuindzhi by Hryhorii Kalmykov, part of The Museum of Stolen Art

We are all participants of a growing movement to ensure heritage survives, not just as archives, but as immersive experiences that engage, inspire, and educate future generations.

A Moment of Opportunity

With so much of the world’s heritage at risk, there’s an urgent opportunity to act. Every digital model, audio recording, and AR experience we create now is a gift to future generations.

Imagine schoolchildren using AR to explore the memory of a historic building destroyed decades before. Imagine a local story, once passed down quietly, now accessible worldwide. That’s the potential of digital preservation and it’s happening right now!

Join the Conversation

We believe the future of heritage is both physical and digital. One protects the other, and together they make our shared history stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient.

If you’re working in heritage, culture, or education and share this vision, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s explore how technology and storytelling can protect our collective memory and make it accessible to everyone.

Written by Missy Sully, Chief Operations Officer