About
Glassbox3D was founded by Dr Izak Potgieter, a cultural heritage practitioner and researcher specialising in the intersection of heritage, memory, and immersive spatial technologies. The practice was established to explore how digital tools can be used responsibly to preserve, interpret, and share cultural heritage — without separating history from the people who lived it.
Izak holds a PhD focused on the use of immersive technologies within cultural heritage contexts. His academic background informs a research-led approach to digital heritage — one that values accuracy, ethics, and cultural responsibility. Rather than positioning technology as an end in itself, his work focuses on how immersive tools can support understanding, memory, and lived experience.
Why Glassbox3D
Glassbox3D emerged from a concern that digital heritage work often prioritises visual reconstruction over meaning. While recreating spaces is valuable, heritage becomes disconnected when the stories, memories, and cultural knowledge tied to those spaces are overlooked. This practice exists to centre lived experience — working with communities, individuals, and institutions to ensure digital heritage reflects not only what existed, but why it mattered.
Working with Care & Responsibility
Cultural heritage carries responsibility. Projects involve people, histories, and knowledge that deserve careful treatment. Glassbox3D approaches each collaboration with respect for cultural context, long-term impact, and institutional mandates. This includes thoughtful fieldwork, transparent collaboration, and an awareness of how digital outputs will be accessed and interpreted over time.
Glassbox3D is based in South Africa and works internationally with institutions and collaborators engaged in heritage preservation, research, and education.