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In recent years, the digitization of cultural heritage has been favored by significant advancements in specific technologies, such as photogrammetry and three-dimensional scanning. The digital representations of artifacts, paintings, books, and collections, as well as buildings or archaeological sites, has led to the transfer of cultural organizations to the digital space. On the other hand, the rapid development of immersive technologies and the Internet of Things is expected to decisively shape virtual cultural heritage in the coming years. However, this digital transition should expand its impact on most of the population. This article aims to cover the lack of structured methodology in the design and development of inclusive virtual spaces in cultural heritage. This research introduces a holistic framework that is mainly based on the disciplines of virtual museology. The proposed methodology takes into account the advancements in extended reality and the creative industry of computer games. The multisensory approach would lead to advanced immersive experiences, while the multilayered approach of cultural heritage content would enhance accessibility in inclusive virtual spaces. Moreover, this holistic framework could provide evidence from the virtual worlds that could be applied to real cultural heritage organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of various types of virtual museums (ViM) as native artifacts or as digital twins (DT) of physical museums (PM). Depending on their mission and features, we discuss various enabling technologies and sensor equipment with their specific requirements and complexities, advantages and drawbacks in relation to each other at all stages of a DT's life cycle. A DT is a virtual construct and embodies innovative concepts based on emerging technologies (ET) using adequate sensor configurations for (meta-)data import and exchange. Our keyword-based search for articles, conference papers, (chapters from) books and reviews yielded 43 contributions and 43 further important references from Industry 4.0, Tourism and Heritage 4.0. After closer examination, a reference corpus of 40 contributions was evaluated in detail and classified along with their variants of DT—content-, communication-, and collaboration-centric and risk-informed ViMs. Their system features correlate with different application areas (AA), new or improved technologies—mostly still under development—and sensors used. Our proposal suggests a template-based, generative approach to DTs using standardized metadata formats, expert/curator software and customers'/visitors' engagement. It advocates for stakeholders' collaboration as part of a comprehensive validation and verification assessment (V&VA) throughout the DT's entire life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, a growing number of museums have adopted digital media, both as an enhancement of exhibitions of real artifacts and as an alternative to traditional display methods. The digital acquisition of artifacts generates accurate 3D replicas that can be displayed via different digital media. With an increase in immersive technologies in the cultural heritage (CH) domain, it is common to see digital artifacts presented in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). This paper presents two user studies conducted in different locations evaluating the use of an AR application in the portrayal of the Mjällby Crucifix artifact. This paper presents the overall results from both user studies evaluating and discussing the AR application on a number of different aspects on a 7-point Likert scale: (1) understanding the artifact, (2) ease of use, (3) object feeling part of reality, (4) perceived visual quality of the object, (5) overall satisfaction experience, and (6) willingness to download the AR application. The results have been compared between genders, age groups, and previous experience with AR. Potential benefits and disadvantages of AR experiences in the context of a museum exhibition were also gathered in free text from the visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of effective tools for cultural-heritage education is becoming more and more important in the times we live in. Interactive user activities and visual elements are necessary for better understanding of and immersion in the cultural heritage world. Objectives of our research include the applicability and criteria covered by tools for presenting cultural heritage content. The study is based on an empirical approach, divided in three stages. In the first phase we chose the instruments to be evaluated. The second phase identifies the criteria for evaluating these tools. In the third phase we perform an analysis of how these criteria are met and finally present the results. Our analysis showed that the reviewed instruments do not support all of the necessary specific functionalities and requirements. We think it is necessary to raise awareness among the respective scientific communities and developers of such tools that being able to access and use them smoothly is important for preserving our cultural heritage and educating children in this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Eurasian Education & Culture is the property of Ayse Burcu Ulusoy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of University of Sharjah Journal for Humanities & Social Sciences is the property of University of Sharjah - Scientific Publishing Unit and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One of the greatest problems in the field of cultural heritage is the process of material destruction of monuments. In most cases, the cause is operational or random wear. Such processes can be slowed down or eliminated thanks to the maintenance process. The most dangerous processes of monument wear and tear are those in which historical objects are exposed to environmental impact. Cycles of weather changes have a particularly negative impact on objects of this type. These types of objects are significantly damaged and are the most difficult to scan. The research work included the scanning of such an object and attempts were made to digitise the point cloud. The monument selected for the model laser scanning was a rock petroglyph located on the slope of the Chatkal mountain near the town of Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The article describes the process of digitally recording a historic object with the use of the Artec Eva scanner. The process of data acquisition from points in space and the processes of highlighting petroglyphs are described. The highlighted model was obtained using proprietary software created for this purpose by the authors of the article. As a result, data were saved which would be difficult to save and read using the previously used 3D scanning techniques. The obtained data can be made available to recipients in the form of exhibits in virtual museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Several opportunities have appeared for the dissemination of culture and heritage thanks in part to the widespread use of information and communications technologies. Virtual museums have appeared as innovative technological products but often lack an evaluation of the impact that they have and their success in achieving their purpose. In this sense, this work seeks to evaluate the impact of a virtual museum on users' attitudes toward cultural heritage. (2) Methods: We used a factorial design of 2 (direction of thoughts: positive vs. negative) × 2 (presence level: high vs. low) × 2 (virtual museum vs. interactive website). (3) Results: Attitudes toward heritage can change as a function of a multimedia experience, thought favorability, and presence. In a virtual museum, when general attitudes are evaluated, a sense of high psychological presence reduces the effect that thoughts (especially when negative) have on attitudes. However, in the case of visiting an interactive website, the effect of the direction of thoughts on attitudes occurred regardless of conditions of high or low presence. Similar tendencies are observed for specific attitudinal objects. (4) Conclusion: A virtual museum can have different effects depending on the interaction of important variables from the virtual reality literature and not only the classic main effects. Recommendations for interventions and future practical and theoretical work are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This presentation explores a new strategy in the repatriation policy of exiled Peruvian heritage. Latin American heritage has an important presence in the world's museums, but it is less conspicuous than the heritage of other regions, looted according to cultural origins, colonial ties or economic power. In the early 20th century, scientific research in the Andes preceded the indiscriminate looting that would fill American and world museums with artifacts. In this scenario, the best examples of looted Peruvian heritage were found in foreign museums until 1987. The call for the repatriation of heritage is common from many of the looted countries. Peru is no exception. But such claims are haphazard, circumstantial, erratic and, while legally required, very costly and ultimately, I believe, counterproductive. Unless action is inevitable when, in a rare scenario, a museum showcases Peruvian heritage in an exhibit called "A Stolen World." In this presentation I propose a new strategy to face the immense exiled Peruvian heritage, revaluing repatriation not as a political discourse, and therefore illogical, of heritage policy but in new academic dimensions, of cultural promotion and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural heritage (CH) sector has always been looking for preeminent ways to improve visitors' interactions with their collections through interactive technologies such as applications and websites. However, economic inequality between developed and developing countries hinders the effective and widespread deployment of interactive technologies; therefore, there is a lack of understanding about how visitors interact with such applications in developing countries. Our research aims to understand the current user experience (UX) practices with CH interactive technologies in developing and developed countries and discuss how to improve the interactive application design for museums' user experience in developing countries. We conducted two field surveys to examine the current UX practices with audio guides and websites at national CH museums in Vietnam and Australia. Additionally, short interviews with interactive service providers and museum interactive service managers confirm the current UX practices and help to fill the UX gaps in developing countries. Our work complements the wealth of knowledge about designing good UX in developed countries and concludes that UX requirements are likely similar between developing and developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, 3D digitisation of selected museum artefacts is becoming more and more frequent practice, but the vast majority is performed by specialised teams. The paper presents the results of comparative studies of 3D digital models of the same museum artefacts from the Silk Road area generated by two completely different technologies: Structure from Motion (SfM)—a method belonging to the so-called low-cost technologies—and by Structured-light 3D Scanning (3D SLS). Moreover, procedural differences in data acquisition and their processing to generate three-dimensional models are presented. Models built using a point cloud were created from data collected in the Afrasiyab museum in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) during "The 1st Scientific Expedition of the Lublin University of Technology to Central Asia" in 2017. Photos for creating 3D models in SfM technology were taken during a virtual expedition carried out under the "3D Digital Silk Road" program in 2021. The obtained results show that the quality of the 3D models generated with SfM differs from the models from the technology (3D SLS), but they may be placed in the galleries of the vitrual museum. The obtained models from SfM do not have information about their size, which means that they are not fully suitable for archiving purposes of cultural heritage, unlike the models from SLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, thanks to the success of the video games industry, the sector of technologies applied to cultural heritage has begun to envisage, in this domain, new possibilities for the dissemination of heritage and the study of the past through edutainment models. More recently, experimentation in the field of virtual archaeology has led to the development of virtual museums and interactive applications. Among these, the "serious game" segment – the application of interactive technologies to the cultural heritage domain – is rapidly growing, also including immersive VR technologies. Applied VR games and applications are characterized by a thorough historical background and a validated 3D reconstruction. Indeed, producing such products requires a tailored workflow and large effort in terms of time and professionals involved to guarantee such faithfulness. Drawing on our previous work in the field of virtual archaeology and referring to recent experiences related to the deployment of applied VR games on PlayStation VR ©, we describe and assess a workflow for the production of historically accurate 3D assets, targeting interactive, immersive VR products. The workflow is supported by the case study of the Forum of Augustus and different output applications, highlighting peculiarities and issues emerging from a multi and interdisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this article concerns adaptive and personalized navigation in a cultural heritage database. The theoretical grounding of the proposition relies on cognitive science, particularly constructivism and enaction. The navigation is conducted via an intelligent interface through a 3D "living" museum metaphor. The purpose of this interface is to recommend dynamic cultural heritage objects according to a user profile that is computed online from the interactions that a user has with these objects. To this end, objects are linked to semantic structures that represent relations between cultural heritage concepts. The user profile is described in terms of cultural heritage interests. A prototype of this principle is used to evaluate some of the basic hypotheses of this proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Virtual Archaeology Review is the property of Virtual Archaeology Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Virtual Reality is a very popular concept all over the world. There are many areas whose activity involves this technology: games, cinemas, museums, medicine, aviation. Although Virtual Reality was more used in games and medicine, in the last period many museums started to adopt it. The museums represent a cultural heritage and also a trust worthy information source in people's lives. Therefore, it is important to attract the audience, especially the young. A very good method to make it possible is to build virtual museums. Our article describes how the virtualization of museums impacts human life, what are the opportunities offered by this change, the steps to build a virtual tour and what are the expectations regarding this subject in the future. In this paper, we also demonstrate how 3D technologies can be used to preserve and display the cultural heritage and as proof we have a dedicated chapter with the top five most amazing virtual museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the positive impact recent developments in digital technologies have on the relations between museums, their collections and the communities they serve. Our work indicates that sustainable benefit is produced with the use of existing digital literacies and infrastructures. We have analysed and evaluated the potential of emergent 3D and spherical technologies on the relationships between community and museum, participation in the formation of heritage, the 'visit' to the museum, and connection with remote audiences. The evaluation arises from our long term experience in working with community museums and through a series of workshops developed for the project entitled 'Museums and Community: Concepts, experiences, and sustainability in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean' (EU‐LAC‐MUSEUMS). Firstly, we contextualise the work presented by examining community museums, trends in emergent technologies and the advancements in digital heritage. Secondly, we analyse the methodologies used to design and execute the elements of the workshops, along with assess case studies to demonstrate distinctive experiences and outcomes particular to each workshop. We also describe how we constructed and implemented a novel design for a cost effective Virtual Museum Infrastructure (VMI), which makes it simpler for communities to create a virtual museum and connect it with global museum networks. Our aim is to communicate our findings in relation to methodologies, workflows and technologies that will be of value in understanding how to overcome the challenges emergent technologies present but yet have the potential to strengthen both community and museum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “Digital Heritage: Spotlight on Europe” column examines technological advances internal and external to cultural institutions. The digital shift changed radically how cultural heritage is made, disseminated, distributed, accessed, consumed, and monetized. One of the most important revolutions is that the user's role changed dramatically, shifting from passive observers to active participants and content producers with many new and exciting opportunities for engagement, creative use, and access. The strength of the column is its broad, international focus, and contributors are encouraged to explore issues and recent advances in digital heritage theories, methodologies, standards relevant to the European region, as well as the larger, global audience. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor atannamaria.tammaro@unipr.it. Please include “ILLR submission” in the subject line of the e-mail. Cultural heritage is co-created by users engaging with virtual museum applications and operates in dialog with the landscapes, cities, and people that have produced it. The two case studies presented here attempt to close an epistemological and methodological gap in this sector by outlining development paths for a virtual museum of the landscape. The first example is a digital humanities initiative, “Visualizing Venice,” which began in 2009 as a collaboration between Duke University, the University IUAV of Venice, and the University of Padua. The second example is the virtual museum of Dolomites landscape, co-created by students and community members in the Belluno province. These are two independent projects, developed in different contexts of each other, though the organizers share common interests and experiences. Through our collective work and study, we have identified three key common features of the “virtual museum” of the landscape: A museum that (1) involves diverse communities in the digital co-creation of cultural content, (2) provides a holistic interpretation of a place using augmented reality technologies, and (3) combines different kinds of cultural resources, artifacts, and archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al Jazeera Al Hamra, a former coastal village in southern Ras Al Khaimah, which was abandoned at the time of the formation of the United Arab Emirates in the late 1960s and early 1970s, is considered one of the last traditional towns in the country. Once an active fishing and pearl diving community, Al Jazeera Al Hamra consists of a fort (hisn), several mosques, a market (souq) and over 100 houses including a wind tower home-some of which are constructed of coral and gypsum. As the buildings continue to decay due to a dire lack of attention, not only does the architecture need to be documented and mapped, but also the stories and traditions of the people who once lived there needs to be recorded. Creating a Web-based virtual museum, which documents both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Al Jazeera Al Hamra can provide a cohesive physical and social record of a traditional fishing and pearling village for future generations after the buildings and the people who had inhabited the town are gone. This paper examines the notion of the virtual museum in relation to the preservation of Al Jazeera Al Hamra's cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage / Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione is the property of Salvatore Lorusso and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Within cultural heritage (CH), industrial heritage (IH) has a series of intrinsic characteristics, which mean that its study includes the use of new approaches to the analysis of heritage in order to understand and form a record, such as the technical–technological approach. The results of this research generate a series of data, which should be managed and stored correctly, with the aim of providing simple and comprehensive access to results. The research which has been carried out and presented in this paper brings together historical, archaeological and technological results, generating a multimedia database containing information of different types, for example a detailed historical record, as well as graphical descriptions with virtual recreations of industrial heritage, or Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and technical analysis. Once this information has been developed and standardized, the results can be included in the platform of a virtual museum (VM) devoted to industrial heritage, using a Content Management System (CMS). As an example, the flour-milling windmills of Andalusia (Spain) have been chosen, given their importance in the economic, social and cultural development of the areas in which they were located. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For nearly two decades, virtual reality (VR) technologies have been employed in the field of cultural heritage for various purposes. The safeguard, the protection and the fruition of the remains of the past have gained a powerful tool, thanks to the potentialities of immersive visualization and 3D reconstruction of archaeological sites and finds. VR applications based on videogame technologies are known for their realism and fluid interactivity, but the choice of the fittest technologies remains a complex task because there is an ample number of hardware devices and software development kits. Moreover the design of a VR application for cultural heritage requires several different professional skills and presents a certain complexity in coordination and management. This paper presents strategies to overcome these problems, by suggesting some guidelines for the development of VR systems for cultural heritage. It illustrates a complete methodology to create a virtual exhibition system, based on realistic high-quality 3D models of archaeological finds (reconstructed using a 3D Scanner and a high definition camera) and a low-cost multimedia stereoscopic system called MNEME, which allows the user to interact in a free and easy way with a rich collection of archaeological finds. The solution we propose is intended to be easy to transport and fully usable by different user typologies, without any external assistance or supervision. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Today, a building is not just a "body" or a "machine" as defined by modern architecture, but rather an immaterial entity immersed in a digital world where not only its components but also the information associated with it are accounted for. In recent decades, building information modelling (BIM) has made it possible to move from 2D CAD drawings to 3D models capable of supporting different processes and interacting with different disciplines in the AEC industry for storing, documenting and sharing heterogeneous content. It has thus become possible to direct these techniques towards built heritage to investigate new forms of communication and share heritage building information modelling (HBIM) models. This research investigates this evolution in both generative terms (scan-to-BIM process) and cultural and historical terms in order to orient BIM uses towards novel forms of interactivity and immersion between users and models. The author proposes the use of a digital process and the development of VR and AR environments based on a visual programming language (VPL) to improve access to a deeper knowledge of HBIM models and the artefacts and information contained therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seabed can be considered as the world's largest museum, and underwater sites explored and studied so far provide priceless information on human interaction with the sea. In recognition of the importance of this cultural resource, UNESCO, in its 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, determined that objects/sites should be preserved in situ, whilst also advocating for public access and sharing. The implementation of these principles is not without difficulties. Some states have opened up underwater sites to the public—mainly through diving, yet the vast majority of the world's population does not dive. In Malta, 7000 years of human occupation is reflected in and on the landscape, and recent offshore surveys show that the islands' long and complex history has also left an indelible mark on the seabed. Besides difficulties related to their protection and management, these sites also present a challenge with regard to sharing and communicating. Recent advances in underwater imaging and processing software have accelerated the development of 3D photogrammetry of submerged sites and the idea for a virtual museum was born. The virtual museum, UnderwaterMalta, was created out of a need to share the plethora of underwater sites located on the seabed of the Maltese Islands. A multitude of digital tools are used to share and communicate these sites, offering visitors a dry dive into submerged sites that would otherwise remain invisible to the vast majority of the public. This paper discusses the basic principle of the sharing of underwater cultural heritage and the difficulties that beset the implementation of such a principle. A detailed explanation and evaluation of the methods used to gather the raw data needed is set in the context of the particular and unique working conditions related to deep water sites. The workings of this paper are based on first-hand experiences garnered through the recording of numerous wrecks over the years and the creation and launch of The Virtual Museum-Underwater Malta—a comprehensive virtual museum specifically built for "displaying" underwater archaeological sites that are otherwise invisible to the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the practice of making digital replicas of artworks and restoring and recontextualizing them within artificial simulations is widespread in the virtual heritage domain. Virtual reconstructions have achieved results of great realistic and aesthetic impact. Alongside the practice, a growing methodological awareness has developed of the extent to which, and how, it is permissible to virtually operate in the field of restoration, avoid a false sense of reality, and preserve the reliability of the original content. However, there is not yet a full sharing of meanings in virtual restoration and reconstruction domains. Therefore, this article aims to clarify and define concepts, functions, fields of application, and methodologies. The goal of virtual heritage is not only producing digital replicas. In the absence of materiality, what emerges as a fundamental value are the interaction processes, the semantic values that can be attributed to the model itself. The cognitive process originates from this interaction. The theoretical discussion is supported by exemplar case studies carried out by the authors over almost twenty years. Finally, the concepts of uniqueness and authenticity need to be again pondered in light of the digital era. Indeed, real and virtual should be considered as a continuum, as they exchange information favoring new processes of interaction and critical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]