Virtual Reality And Cultural And Architectural Heritage

by Diane Jones BIM Consultant

Disseminate and preserving our architectural and cultural heritage has a great ally that you should know: virtual reality

There are many municipalities and all kinds of organizations that ensure the conservation and dissemination of monuments, and buildings of cultural and architectural interest. Given the state of conservation, on many occasions, it is necessary to limit the number of visits to ruins, archaeological sites, or protected natural spaces to prevent their degradation and facilitate the work of conservators.

In this article, we propose various tools that new technologies provide us, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality for the dissemination and restoration of artistic and architectural heritage.

New ways to spread the history of our heritage that will excite your visitors!

Within this area, virtual reality and specifically virtual visits allow us to recreate past times and delve into history. We can walk inside buildings that ceased to exist centuries ago, interact with buildings in ways impossible in the real world, or see objects that are too fragile, difficult to access, etc. helping in their conservation.

Tourists will be able to interact with historical figures who will challenge them on their journey. With virtual tours, you get a richer and more immersive experience. Since you can introduce narrations or music according to the theme of the tour. We can enrich the visit by incorporating videos, texts, photographs, plans, and 3D modeling.

This innovative technology allows us to get to know spaces that, due to security or conservation regulations, cannot be physically visited. It also allows us to complete the experience by adding the vision from new points of view.

Virtual Design and Construction can become particularly useful for people who, due to any type of handicap or disability, cannot visit caves, places with stairs, ruins, or complicated accesses.

Interactive 3D models

It is very enriching to be able to compare the current state of a monument with its original state. In the following example, we will see two ways to get to know the Acropolis of Athens. In the first case, we can see a virtual tour in Athens of the current state of the Acropolis in a 360º video in which we can look in any direction by dragging the cursor across the image.

As we can see photography, or in this case 360º video, gives us realism, a great quantity, and quality of details.

But where our imagination does not reach, comes the help of virtual reality that allows us to visualize what this architectural complex was like in its heyday. This allows us to better understand and interpret the current ruins. A virtual visit to the 3D reproduction of the original state of the Acropolis.

One of the advantages of online dissemination is that it reaches anywhere in the world.

Having realistic 3D images makes it easier to know exactly the state prior to deterioration or the phases and different periods of construction of a building or historic center.

How virtual reality helps us in restoration and conservation:

The large influx of visitors often endangers the conservation of these spaces or monuments. Virtual reality can be a key tool to solve all these problems without preventing the dissemination of heritage and its enjoyment. The number of virtual visits can be as large as required and this can bring many benefits of all kinds without negatively impacting conservation.

We can test restoration techniques on digital models or explore different theories about their construction, all while making sure not to damage the original. The possibilities are endless.

For the restoration, it is essential to document in as much detail as possible the geometry and ornamentation of each corner in a reliable way. The laser scanner allows us to obtain a model with exact measurements and colors of any monument.

With a Point Cloud to BIM, it is possible to carry out a study of the flatness of elements, such as floors or walls, to be able to have an exact survey of what exists and to be able to measure or carry out the engineering procedure.

In the heritage conservation sector, this use is very complete, since the scanning of the elements can not only develop and document these elements, but it can also carry out a study of how the passage of time and the weather have affected them.

As we can see, virtual reality and 360º photography provide us with very versatile and powerful tools to disseminate heritage. They also allow us to work on the conservation and restoration of buildings of our architectural and artistic heritage and this already well-established trend will continue to spread and increase its technical resources and possibilities even more. We are not exaggerating if we say that today we have the tools that allow us to travel to the past virtually.

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Created on Jun 7th 2022 07:39. Viewed 242 times.

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