Sustainable Frugal Innovation in Cultural Heritage for the Production of Decorative Items by Adopting Digital Twin

Josip Stjepandić (), Andrej Bašić, Martin Bilušić and Tomislava Majić
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Josip Stjepandić: PROSTEP AG, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
Andrej Bašić: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia
Martin Bilušić: AluTech, 22000 Šibenik, Croatia
Tomislava Majić: Department of Business and Management, University North, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia

World, 2025, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-22

Abstract: Throughout history, cultural heritage has accumulated, and is often embodied in monuments, structures, and notable figures. Cultural heritage preservation and management also include digitalization, allowing tangible monuments to be managed as digital inventory with “digital twins”. This provides innovative ways to experience and interact with the real world, in particular by using modern mobile devices. The digitalization of monuments opens new ways to produce decorative items based on the shape of the monuments. Usually, decorative items are produced by craft businesses, family-run for generations, with specialized skills in metal and stone processing. We developed and tested a methodological proposal for frugal innovation: how to produce decorative items with minimal costs based on digital twins, which are particularly in demand in tourism-driven countries like Croatia. A micro-business with three employees, specializing in “metal art,” aims to innovate and expand by producing small-scale replicas of cultural heritage objects, such as busts, statues, monuments, or profiles. A method has been developed to create replicas in the desired material and at a desired scale, faithfully reproducing the original—whether based on a physical object, 3D model, or photograph. The results demonstrate that this sustainable frugal innovation can be successfully implemented using affordable tools and licenses.

Keywords: cultural heritage; digital twin; reverse engineering; scanning; photogrammetry; additive manufacturing; investment casting; micro-business; transdisciplinary engineering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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