Virtual Museums and Human-VR-Computer Interaction for Cultural Heritage Application: New Levels of Interactivity and Knowledge of Digital Models and Descriptive Geometry

Open and advanced real-time 3D creation tools are continuously evolving, offering new cutting edge solutions to support the creation of immersive virtual experience-oriented to different purposes, devices and users. In recent years, different Virtual and Augmented reality (VR-AR) projects have clearly shown how 3D modelling and Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be the proper bases to enhance the new paradigm of interactivity of 3D informative systems, moving from static models to virtual objects able to interact with the user’s input. For those reasons, this study proposes a method able to give life to 3D survey data and static models, transforming them into interactive virtual objects (IVO) able to enhance the virtual-visual storytelling (VVS) of heritage buildings. This was made possible by the use of novel scan-to-BIM modelling requirements based on the values of scientific drawing, descriptive geometry, historic documentation and digital proxemics. The combination of all these factors has made it possible to achieve new levels of communication and human-VR-computer interaction, favouring documentation, education and learning of tangible and intangible values of our built cultural heritage.