Abstract
Abstract. Thanks to their playful and educational approach Virtual Museum systems are very effective for the communication of Cultural Heritage. Among the latest technologies Immersive Virtual Reality is probably the most appealing and potentially effective to serve this purpose; nevertheless, due to a poor user-system interaction, caused by an incomplete maturity of a specific technology for museum applications, it is still quite uncommon to find immersive installations in museums. This paper explore the possibilities offered by this technology and presents a workflow that, starting from digital documentation, makes possible an interaction with archaeological finds or any other cultural heritage inside different kinds of immersive virtual reality spaces. Two different cases studies are presented: the National Archaeological Museum of Marche in Ancona and the 3D reconstruction of the Roman Forum of Fanum Fortunae. Two different approaches not only conceptually but also in contents; while the Archaeological Museum is represented in the application simply using spherical panoramas to give the perception of the third dimension, the Roman Forum is a 3D model that allows visitors to move in the virtual space as in the real one. In both cases, the acquisition phase of the artefacts is central; artefacts are digitized with the photogrammetric technique Structure for Motion then they are integrated inside the immersive virtual space using a PC with a HTC Vive system that allows the user to interact with the 3D models turning the manipulation of objects into a fun and exciting experience. The challenge, taking advantage of the latest opportunities made available by photogrammetry and ICT, is to enrich visitors’ experience in Real Museum making possible the interaction with perishable, damaged or lost objects and the public access to inaccessible or no longer existing places promoting in this way the preservation of fragile sites.
Highlights
The work in this paper, exploring the possibilities offered by modern technology, presents a workflow that starting from the acquisition and modelling of cultural heritage, contents and container, aims to increase access and interaction with artefacts overcoming distance and time
Considering that in an archaeological museum there are a lot of artefacts the acquisition phase must be optimized and made expeditious in order to reduce the subsequent times of data processing
A series of pictures are taken from the same point of view with a 360-degree horizontal axis rotation and a 180-degree vertical axis rotation. Repeating this acquisition changing more than fifty points of view inside the rooms of the National Archaeological Museum of Marche in Ancona the entire exposition has been recreated
Summary
The work in this paper, exploring the possibilities offered by modern technology, presents a workflow that starting from the acquisition and modelling of cultural heritage, contents and container, aims to increase access and interaction with artefacts overcoming distance and time. The choice of HTC Vive system made possible the integration of 3D models inside the immersive virtual space. Using such an interactive solution changes visitors’ experience; visitors are no more passive spectators but become capable of acting with the 3D virtual object in its digital three-dimensional physicality. 4. to define a pipeline that starting from an expeditious and low cost acquisition leads to optimized 3D models for immersive application in the field of fruition
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
