Track 06 – Visualization and Interaction

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https://diglib.eg.org/handle/10.2312/3607223

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Reconstructing Gladiator Combat: A Multisensory Virtual Reality Training Environment
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Gaugne, Ronan; Salvan, Stéphane; Cazuc, Ewen; Gouranton, Valérie; Pontonnier, Charles; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This study presents a research project focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating a multisensory virtual environment to simulate gladiatorial training. The aim is to analyze how immersive experiences impact the acquisition and refinement of technical skills in armed singular dueling. Conducted collaboratively by teams in virtual reality, biomechanics, and history, the project developed a historically contextualized environment centered on the provocator, a specific gladiator type. The virtual environment allows users to train in typical offensive maneuvers, offering a testbed for hypotheses about Roman combat and the effects of external conditions on performance. It serves as both a historical reconstruction tool and an experimental platform for studying ancient martial techniques. Built on rigorous historical and visual research, it uses motion capture technology to accurately recreate combat sequences, enhancing the authenticity and educational value of the simulation. A key contribution of this work lies in advancing the study of gladiatorial techniques, an area often distorted by popular culture. By integrating passive haptic and auditory feedback, the environment enhances sensory immersion, contributing to a deeper and more accurate understanding of gladiatorial practices. This multisensory approach not only supports the preservation of ancient techniques but also sheds light on the physical and cognitive demands faced by historical fighters. Ultimately, this research bridges disciplines-combining historical scholarship, biomechanics, and virtual reality-to offer an innovative way of exploring Roman gladiatorial training. The findings may inform broader discussions on the role of immersive technologies in skill development and historical interpretation within virtual environments.
Beyond Street Signs: Ethical and Situated Cultural Storytelling using AI and Extended Reality
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Toumpouri, Marina; Constantinides, Marios; Milata, Václav; Ppali, Sophia; Alexopoulos, Lampros; Liarokapis, Fotis; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Honorific street names that commemorate historical figures, events, or cultural symbols constitute a frequently overlooked, yet symbolically potent layer of urban heritage. Beyond their practical function in navigation and spatial organization, they also encode ideological narratives into public space that shape collective memory and identity. However, they often go unnoticed, while traditional cultural heritage (CH) tools do not engage with their contested meanings, particularly in politically divided urban landscapes. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how the integration of extended reality (XR) and artificial intelligence (AI) can reanimate toponymic inscriptions into dynamic, context-sensitive forms of storytelling. Focusing on the center of Nicosia, Cyprus, we present an intelligent tourist guide that combines mobile XR, conversational AI, and lifelike avatars to deliver personalized, multilingual narratives, at the sites of honorific street names. We conclude by discussing the ethical challenges of algorithmic memory mediation in contested urban spaces and we argue that such systems, when designed responsibly, can foster critical engagement, pluralistic representation, and new forms of civic pedagogy within the domain of CH.
Co-Designing XR Exhibits: Insights from a Domain Expert Workshop on UI and Interaction Features for Cultural Heritage
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Nunes, Tiago; Rodrigues, Armanda; Correia, Nuno; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This paper explores the design of an Extended Reality (XR) framework for virtual cultural exhibits through a domain expert workshop. The system includes AR (mobile), VR (immersive), a desktop editor, and a server backend. Experts evaluated proposed features like 360° media, inter-artifact relationships, and interactive object manipulation, highlighting their educational value while calling for improved accessibility and gamification. Results demonstrate how participatory design can align XR innovation with cultural heritage needs, offering guidelines for future development.
Exploring Anamorphoses in Immersive Virtual Reality on the Web: Design and Challenges of the Anamorphic Gallery of Anamorphoses (AnGA)
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Menconero, Sofia; Amadei, Chiara Florise; Gosti, Giorgio; Fanini, Bruno; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
In the field of art, anamorphosis is a perspective technique that produces two-dimensional images or three-dimensional installations whose form can be correctly perceived from a single viewpoint (the perspective projection centre), while appearing distorted and sometimes incomprehensible when viewed from other positions. Anamorphosis stands as one of the highest examples of how art and science have fruitfully interacted over the centuries. It has a long tradition, beginning with Renaissance perspective experiments, reaching its peak in 17th-century treatises, and maintaining a widespread legacy in contemporary artistic language. Anamorphic devices work by disrupting the physiological visual process, altering perception and stimulating the viewer's cognitive processes aimed at recognising forms in an interactive and dynamic manner. This physical and mental engagement makes the experience emotionally and intellectually stimulating, as it requires the effort to reconfigure the image and unveil its true meaning, creating a personal connection with the artwork. Despite the potential of immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) for experiencing anamorphic works due to their interactive and dynamic characteristics, as well as the unparalleled creative freedom offered by the virtual environment, the scientific literature has not extensively explored this field. Our contribution aims to propose the design and creation of a VR experience centred on the theme of anamorphosis, developed using the ATON framework within the H2IOSC project. The WebXR experience, titled ''Anamorphic Gallery of Anamorphoses'' (AnGA), is divided into two parts. The first part involves the exploration of an anamorphic space where the user must locate the perspective projection centre, the only point from which the anamorphosis appears undistorted. Once positioned at this point, the anamorphic environment gives way to the virtual environment generating the perspective projection. This virtual environment is a gallery showcasing various types of anamorphic devices (planar and spatial anamorphosis, tabula scalata, catoptric anamorphosis). Thus, AnGA has the dual purpose of providing users with an anamorphic experience and illustrating the main anamorphic mechanisms and their long history. The paper also addresses and discusses the challenges posed by binocular vision in exploring anamorphic spaces in iVR, which is based on perspective projection from a single point and, theoretically, achieves maximum effectiveness with monocular vision.
Reinterpreting Heritage Site Through Collective Memory and Augmented Reality - The Case of Nanjing's Great Bao'en Temple
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Chen, Yimeng; Song, Mingdong; Li, Yuying; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Nanjing Great Bao'en Temple is a historically stacked temple site and an iconic symbol of Chinese architectural heritage, having undergone multiple cycles of destruction and reconstruction. This paper presents Blooming Memory, a mobile AR-based interactive experience designed to reinterpret the temple's history through spatialized textual memory narratives from different historical periods. Rather than recreating lost physical structures, the project visualizes shifting interpretations and stories tied to the site, highlighting its intangible and evolving heritage. By combining AR spatial design, scenario-based narrative visualization, and participatory interaction, Blooming Memory explores new possibilities for engaging visitors with heritage beyond static reconstructions. The study demonstrates AR's potential to support layered storytelling and user engagement in digital heritage contexts.
HERIX: An integrated platform for creating Immersive, Interactive and Liquid eXtended Reality experiences for Cultural Heritage
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Drago, Manuel Fortunato; Marino, Emanuele; Serratore, Sara; Lagudi, Antonio; Barbieri, Loris; Bruno, Fabio; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
The increasing demand for interactive and immersive experience in the field of cultural heritage (CH) has stimulated the exploration of novel approaches to engage audiences with cultural assets. Extended Reality (XR) technology has emerged as a powerful tool in this domain, offering high-quality, immersive, and interactive experiences that enhance the appreciation of cultural and natural heritage. Despite their potential, the widespread adoption of XR solutions remains limited, primarily due to the technical complexity associated with content creation and the need to ensure compatibility across a broad range of XR devices. To address these challenges, this paper presents HERIX, a scalable and modular platform designed for the creation and deployment of XR scenarios. HERIX provides an integrated environment that enables content creators with limited programming skills to develop interactive XR experiences while allowing visitors to engage with them. The platform consists of three key components: an authoring tool for scenario creation, two XR applications for content consumption, and a web server for data access and management. By streamlining the authoring process, HERIX lowers technical barriers and enhances accessibility. A preliminary evaluation through two user studies highlighted its potential and appeal within cultural contexts.
A multimodal approach to 3D modelling of Spanish cultural heritage buildings for visualization and management based on generative AI and geospatial data
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Barbero-Álvarez, Miguel Antonio; Peña, Javier Rodríguez; Ferrero, Cristian Olmedo; Alonso, Marina A. Álvarez; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This work presents a study on blending the latest artificial intelligence technologies with geospatial data for managing and visualizing Spain's cultural heritage. The goal is to achieve a new stable simulation using multimodal data that serves as a foundation for future advancements in AI-driven cultural heritage 3D modeling technology. Fundamentally, the work here exposed is a proof of concept to assess whether the exploration and visualization of the geospatial information related to Spain's cultural heritage can rely on AI concepts to improve its processing and understanding. This will lay ground for enhancing the visitor experience at heritage sites within their contextual environment. The application of the proposed methodology to a real-world case, such as the Monastery of El Escorial, has demonstrated the potential of generative AI in the management and dissemination of cultural heritage resources. This method is innovative because it proposes a new approach in which the combination of different AI-generated results serves as the starting point for creating 3D models of buildings, which can be manually refined aftwerwards, instead of the more costly manual acquisition and modelling from scratch. The approach integrates multimodal sources of graphical information, including videos, photographs, and text, to be blended with geospatial data. It is concluded that design methods integrating AI techniques and geospatial data add quality to working models, given that buildings are inherently tied to their spatial context. The addition of these properties allows for a more precise and detailed digital representation. Furthermore, these models can be visualized in web applications, thus shedding light on AI as a valuable tool to be added to the already existing modelling solutions in digital cultural heritage.
From Site to Story: A Virtual Archaeology Project in Arzachena (Sardinia, Italy)
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Ferdani, Daniele; Fanini, Bruno; Ronch, Diego; Pagano, Alfonsina; Palombini, Augusto; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Arzachena Civiltà Millenaria is a joint project between ISPC-CNR and the Municipality of Arzachena (Sardinia, Italy), designed to bring the archaeological heritage of Arzachena to a global audience through interactive virtual exploration. Situated in northern Sardinia, the municipality of Arzachena is home to several significant prehistoric and Nuragic sites. This initiative leverages advanced 3D technologies to create accurate digital replicas and hypothetical virtual reconstructions of these sites, offering users a visual and interactive storytelling as well as engaging and immersive way to explore them. Through an interactive guide, published within the web portal of Arzachena Tourism, users can freely explore digitized sites enriched with informative panels and images. The guide is powered by ATON, an open-source Web3D framework developed by ISPC-CNR, which provides a scalable and modular platform for high-quality 3D visualization. Among the key features, Present-Past mode, is central for the communication potential, allowing users to switch between the current state of the sites and historically accurate reconstructions. The Arzachena Civiltà Millenaria project adopts a data-driven approach to heritage preservation and dissemination, bridging the gap between site's reading and its public comprehension. This initiative not only enhances audience engagement but also fosters sustainable cultural tourism, encouraging visitors to explore beyond the Costa Smeralda and into the heart of Sardinia's millennia-old civilization. In this paper, the entire workflow of the project will be presented.
The Secret of Bastet: Integrating VR and 3D Printing for the Study and Exhibition of a Cat Mummy
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Gaugne, Ronan; Lacoche, Jérémy; Hays, Odile; Nicolas, Théophane; Gouranton, Valérie; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This paper presents the design and evaluation of a twofold dissemination experience to enhance the scientific study of a cat mummy. The mummy is part of the archaeological collection of an art museum. It has undergone scientific analysis, resulting in a large amount of digital data collected via X-ray, CT and photogrammetry, leading to significant discoveries about the nature and history of the mummy. The first part of the dissemination approach resulted in the production of a 1:1 scale transparent copy, which gives visitors a clear view of the mummy's contents. It has joined the museum's collection and is now displayed alongside the original mummy. The object is both aesthetic and scientific. It was produced using an advanced 3D printing technique based on 3D data generated from segmentations of CT scan data. The second part consists of a VR-based experience proposed to the museum's visitors, highlighting the scientific process that has led to new knowledge and unresolved questions. The VR environment guides users through data production, exploration and analysis, enhancing interpretation. This VR experience was first showcased at an international XR event, and later at the museum's weekly events. Two user studies were conducted on these occasions, using subjective questionnaires to gather feedback. The first assessed the presence, usability and comfort of the VR experience. The second assessed the impact on dissemination. The results show a strong user interest in the scientific approach and confirm the public interest in this method. The experience is now routinely offered in the museum.
Bridging Psychological Distance from Climate Change through Experiential Learning within Heritage Organisations
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Andrei, Maria; Heinrich, Sonja; Jacques, Jason; Oliver, Iain; Pisani, Sharon; Miller, Alan; Bates, Richard; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Psychological distance from climate change---the perception that its impacts occur far away, in the future, to other people, or with uncertain likelihood---has been established as a major barrier to public understanding and action. Building on seven workshops hosted on an Antarctic expedition and two museum exhibitions located in Scotland, we present and evaluate a Virtual Reality (VR) approach that embeds local and global climate scenarios in museum exhibitions to collapse the four dimensions of psychological distance: temporal, spatial, social (identity) and uncertainty. Results demonstrate that VR can increase emotional engagement and perceived personal relevance with climate change. The paper proposes a set of guidelines for extending the scope of this work.
Swiss Echoes: An immersive and embodied exploration of a national broadcasting archive
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Alliata, Giacomo; Serafin, Loïc; Rattinger, André; Kenderdine, Sarah; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This paper answers the need for new modes of access for large audiovisual collections and builds on top of the computational and immersive turn of the cultural sector. The immersive installation Swiss Echoes fosters an embodied and spatialised paradigm in which visitors fly over a topographical 3D map of the Swiss landscape to discover how the voices captured in the national broadcasting archive of the Radio Télévision Suisse talk about local places. Through a reflection on the design rationale supported by key insights from a user evaluation conducted at our laboratory, three main themes are elucidated. First, the computational augmentation of the archive foregrounds access to a collection of locations rather than videos. Second, the use of an immersive environment and a performative controller fosters a profoundly embodied mode of spatial exploration. Third, sharing the immersive experience between multiple visitors creates a collective form of engagement, where the main visitor interacting becomes a performer and director for the others.
OpenLIME: An open and flexible web framework for creating and exploring complex multi-layered relightable image models
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Ponchio, Federico; Bettio, Fabio; Marton, Fabio; Pintus, Ruggero; Righetto, Leonardo; Giachetti, Andrea; Gobbetti, Enrico; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
We introduce OpenLIME (Open Layered IMage Explorer), an open, scalable, and flexible framework for creating web-based interactive tools to annotate and inspect large multi-layered and multi-channel standard and relightable image models. Adaptive image management and display use a data-flow approach, where images from sources of any size are efficiently streamed into screen-sized buffers that can be processed and combined using customizable WebGL shaders. The framework natively supports multispectral images, Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), and Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) datasets and can be extended to accommodate other multi-channel raster datasets, such as neural representations. Multi-layer and multi-faceted visualizations are achieved through opacity adjustments, blending modes, and interactive lenses. The released library provides a set of pre-configured layers, facilitating the rapid deployment of web-based datasets and kiosk applications. Its responsive user interface is compatible with desktop, mobile, and general multitouch environments, while its modular architecture allows for extensive customization, making it adaptable to diverse annotation and visualization needs. The paper illustrates the framework's design and discusses specific use cases, including the inspection of RTI models, the integration of novel relightable image formats, archaeological data documentation and annotation, and standalone museum application creation and deployment. The main components of the framework are released as open source.
Stereo Spectacular: Reviving the Universal Exposition of 1867 in Virtual Reality through Historical Stereoscopic Photographs
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Gowda-Storz, Dhruva; Mannane, Samy; Ramogida, Tonia; Cardot, Toussain; Kenderdine, Sarah; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Stereo Spectacular unites 19th-century stereoscopic immersive media with contemporary virtual reality technologies, reconstructing the Exposition Universelle of Paris 1867 (UE1867) through archival stereoscopic photographs within an immersive museum experience. As a landmark historical event, the expo marked a turning point in visual culture. Part of the Expo's spectacular appeal involved the use of contemporary technologies in the service of museography and art. One such technology was stereography, which was used to extensively document the event through 1000+ stereoscopic photographs. Stereo Spectacular presents a navigable art-tectonic virtual reconstruction of the UE1867: hundreds of digitized, restored, geolocated, augmented, and sonified stereo pairs are configured into a navigable, map-based visual space that museum audiences can freely explore. Stereo Spectacular is built for a state-of-the-art multi-user 360° stereoscopic virtual reality system, but is scalable to any and all virtual reality and stereoscopic visualization hardware. The project presents a novel curatorial framework for reconstituting and reconfiguring stereo archives into compelling reconstructions of place and time. It demonstrates how image archives can become navigable VR places, and how multisensory augmentations can be used to shed new light on visions of the past. Importantly, the project transforms the individually viewed stereo pair into a socially experienced visual space, reinventing the historical stereo viewing experience, and - in the case of the UE1867 - reinterpreting the experience of visiting the fair through contemporary immersive visualization.
Contextualism and Music Annotation: Exploring the Role of Digital Storytelling about a Composer's Life on Music Perception
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Petousi, Dimitra; Kougioumtzian, Lori; Katifori, Akrivi; Boile, Maria; Servi, Katerina; Ioannidis, Yannis; Kriezi, Vera; Vraka, Valia; Merakos, Stefania; Charkiolakis, Alexandros; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Intangible cultural heritage, especially music, is challenging to interpret due to its elusive nature and reliance on context. This study investigates how knowledge of a composer's life and historical background shapes listeners' interpretations of classical music. Based on contextualism theory, which emphasizes the importance of cultural and personal context in meaning-making, the study involved 25 participants with varying levels of familiarity with music theory and the composer Nikos Skalkotas In a two-stage process, participants first annotated four musical pieces based on initial impressions. They then revisited the pieces after having engaged with a collaborative digital narrative and virtual reality (VR) experience based on archival material about the composer, presenting his life and work. The results show that annotations became more reflective and contextually informed after the storytelling experiences, indicating enhanced empathy and historical understanding. These findings suggest that immersive, narrative-driven context can enrich music appreciation and offer valuable tools for cultural heritage education.
Between technical history, industrial archaeology, Digital Humanities and Virtual Reality: A digital corpus of a former industrial site under rehabilitation: the case of CAP 44
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Laroche, Florent; Quantin, Matthieu; Plessis, William; Kerouanton, Jean-Louis; Audoux, Sophie; Duchene, Soazig; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This article introduces interdisciplinary research on digitizing industrial heritage, focusing on CAP44 in Nantes, a rare 19thcentury reinforced concrete structure. The building, being transformed into the ''Cité des imaginaires,'' is documented using CIDOC-CRM ontology, Omeka-S, and GraphDB to enable digital twin modeling. The AIDEN VR platform allows immersive 3D exploration of historical data via gestures, movement, and voice. This innovative tool enhances understanding and promotes digital access to complex heritage. The project also raises ethical and methodological issues, aiming for transparent and rigorous digital preservation of industrial memory.
Evaluating the role of video within multi-sensory cultural experiences
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Ladikou, Stamatia; Chourmouziadi, Anastasia; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This short paper reports a recent experiment with digital content and its evaluation in terms of impact in multi-sensory visiting experience, by recording visitors' opinion during its use within a cultural exhibition. Specifically, the aim of this experiment was to understand if and how QR code-enabled video can enhance the multi-sensory visiting experience within a cultural exhibition. This research aims to answer the following three research questions: a) Is QR code-enabled video supportive in the multi-sensory visiting experience of cultural exhibitions? b) How can QR code-enabled video keep the audience's interest in terms of the exhibition's content/subject? c) Can a QR code-enabled video activate visitors' emotions and enrich their sensory experience? To achieve this goal, five videos and a quiz were developed and afterwards evaluated by a traditional hard-copy questionnaire. The findings of this experiment are briefly presented in this paper.
Modern Digitization and 3D Visualization Technologies for Virtual Access to Hard-to-reach or Perished Historical Sites
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Tokarski, Piotr; Milosz, Marek; Kesik, Jacek; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Nowadays, an important issue is both the digitization of Cultural Heritage objects and the techniques of their virtual dissemination, regardless of the current state of the digitized object. This is crucial when the digitized location is at risk of closing, degradation, or complete loss due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or political and economic conditions. Obtaining a digital twin of such an object allows not only to maintain the most accurate representation possible but also to implement an unlimited number of sessions to disseminate such an object, regardless of whether the object is only difficult to access or has already been excluded from display, damaged, or even completely lost. The paper presents detailed case studies of 3D scanning and model sharing for inner chambers of the Golden Mosque in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), the Church of the Archangel Michael in Chicago (USA), and the Church of St. Adalbert in Chicago (USA). The acquired data is based on TLS scans and photographs of the interior. The point clouds and mesh models generated from them provide a density adequate to the detail of the interior appearance and geometry. The Golden Mosque is a part of the Tillia-Kori madrasa (dating from the 17th century) located in the Registan complex in Samarkand, Uzbekistan - located in Central Asia. In turn, the Church of the Archangel Michael in Chicago (built in 1909 by the Polish diaspora) was desacralized in 2020 and closed. Its digitally documented condition shows the abandonment of the building that served the congregation until the very last moment. The demolition process of the Church of St. Adalbert in Chicago began in 2023. At the beginning of this process, it was possible to carry out a 3D scan of its interior and separately of the Pietà sculpture (a copy of Michelangelo's Madonna della Pietà) already transferred to another church. All of the above results are publicly available in the form of basic and online 3D models, panoramas, videos, and VR files.
User Driven Augmented Reality Registration for Urban Digital Twin Heritage Visualization
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Öder, Bernhard; Jörg, Sophie; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
This work presents the idea of combining Augmented Reality (AR) with an urban Digital Twin (DT) to visualize virtual histori- cal content in real-world locations. Historical buildings can be experienced on-site in their former state using a novel manual placement method. This approach leverages user guidance for precise alignment, bypassing technical and environmental lim- itations common in computer vision methods, offering a robust and accessible solution for urban exploration and heritage visualization. The interactive nature, the simplicity and the adaptability of this approach offer great potential for gamified experiences in cultural heritage and beyond.
Full-fledged Virtual Exploration of Sacred Spaces
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) Paneva-Marinova, Desislava; Márkus, Zsolt László; Szkaliczki, Tibor; Goynov, Maxim; Szántó, György; Luchev, Detelin; Veres, Miklós; Pavlov, Radoslav; Weisz, Zsolt; Pavlova, Lilia; Martonosi, Patrik; Hidán, Attila; Rangochev, Konstantin; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
Virtual Reality (VR) revolutionised the way the users can perceive virtual or distant spaces and interact with them. The users wearing VR headsets have the impression as if they would look around at the real place of the sights. The technology is widely used in entertainment and training. Our goal was to examine how the VR technology can be applied to present sacral spaces. We assembled the virtual reality model of a Bulgarian Orthodox church in a cost-effective manner from high-resolution spherical panorama pictures. A complex VR exploration platform was created by integrating our VR presentation tool with the digital repository of Bulgarian icons and iconographic objects. Due to the integration, additional information can be displayed on specific frescoes of the church in the VR space. We offer a full-fledged virtual exploration of sacred spaces where the experience of moving around the virtual space and exploring the details of the church can be combined with transferring lexical knowledge about the church and its selected objects. The first versions of our virtual walks were available on the Web only. Due to the multiplatform development methodology applied, virtual walks can be demonstrated on VR as well.
Bringing the Gonzaga Equestrian Heritage to Life: AI-Enhanced VR Storytelling for Cultural Dissemination
(The Eurographics Association, 2025) You, Zhou; Treccani, Daniele; Adami, Andrea; Campana, Stefano; Ferdani, Daniele; Graf, Holger; Guidi, Gabriele; Hegarty, Zackary; Pescarin, Sofia; Remondino, Fabio
The dissemination of architectural and cultural heritage faces challenges in accessibility, engagement, participatory experience, and authenticity, particularly for sites with multi-layered historical narratives. Conventional approaches often fail to reconcile educational rigor with interactive appeal or to fully communicate the socio-political significance and spatial realism of heritage, limiting public connection and understanding. Advanced technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) offer new opportunities to bridge this gap by combining rigorous historiography with experiential storytelling. This study develops a hybrid digital framework integrating VR, photogrammetry, AI, and gamification to enhance the interpretation of the Gonzaga family's equestrian legacy in Mantova. Using UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry, we reconstructed three multi- era architectural sites (Cortile della Cavallerizza, Piazza Sordello, and Sala dei Cavalli) as high-resolution 3D models. AI algorithms generated historically consistent 3D characters and assets, while immersive VR environments developed via Unity Engine and Oculus SDK enabled users to explore narrative-driven scenarios tied to the horses' military, ceremonial, and diplomatic roles. The resulting VR application functions effectively, featuring interactive elements such as task completion and dynamic scene transitions, which may enhance spatial understanding and cultural appreciation. However, further studies involving user focus groups and feedback collection are needed to better assess its usability and overall impact.

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