This paper sets out approaches and trends in interactive and smart solutions designed to foster and promote cultural heritage through a multimedia educational approach. The research presented aims at envisioning novel strategies to facilitate learning by encouraging visitors to interact directly and physically with the heritage on display, and to communicate cultural messages. Analysing the interactions between the user and different media and their narrative potentialities, we describe an installation which allows visitors to meet a life-sized simulated hologram and interact with it. The project is set in the field of Human Computing Interaction (HCI), looking at the world of digital encounters and interactive systems based on embodied interaction, investigating if and how the designers, as a mediator between different media and tools, succeeded in achieving their aims and proving the envisioned user experience. Relying on user tests and direct observation, we discuss how the interactive exhibit and the digital character affected visitors’ behaviour, effectively capturing their attention and fostering interaction. Furthermore, we examine how visitors perceived the digital character and the gestures they asked them to perform, directly or indirectly, to trigger actions. In conclusion we generalize the results in terms of possible translations for teaching design basics in higher education.