Augmented reality is a mature technology that uses the real world as a substrate and extends it by overlaying computer-generated information. It has been applied to several domains. In particular, the technology was proven to be useful for the management and preservation of Cultural Heritage. This study provides an overview of the last decade of the use of augmented reality in cultural heritage through a detailed review of the scientific papers in the field. We analyzed the applications published on Scopus and Clarivate Web of Science databases over a period of 9 years (2012–2021). Bibliometric data consisted of 1201 documents, and their analysis was performed using various tools, including ScientoPy, VOS Viewer, and Microsoft Excel. The results revealed eight trending topics of applying augmented reality technology to cultural heritage: 3D reconstruction of cultural artifacts, digital heritage, virtual museums, user experience, education, tourism, intangible cultural heritage, and gamification. Each topic is discussed in detail in the article sections, providing insight into existing applications and research trends for each application field.

In the first part of the paper we approached theoretical notions regarding the quality of life, as a complex feature of the economic, political, social and ideological factors, which determine the human situation in society. The quality of life gives value to the life of a man, shows how and to what extent the conditions of life offer man the possibility of satisfying his many needs, the degree to which life is satisfactory to the individual. In this article, we analysed the data collected through a questionnaire from a sample of 129 students from the Faculty of Economic Sciences. The purpose of the questionnaire was to collect information on several indicators of the student's quality of life (QOL). The indicators considered were measured through the help of some items present in the questionnaire. In the following, we were interested in analysing, from a statistical point of view, the results collected from the questionnaire. For this, we first identified descriptive characteristics of the calculated indicators. Since the values of the characteristics are real numbers, obtained as averages of Likert scores, we considered it appropriate, to apply analysis procedures specific to quantitative statistical variables, numerically (averages, dispersions, correlation analyses). As part of statistical modelling, we intended to check whether the independent variable, introduced as a QOL indicator after proposing the 5 basic types of indicators, is absolutely necessary to be taken from users, or if it is possible that its values are deduced by means of a linear model from the other variables. The conclusion of my study is that the variable is not fully explained by a linear combination of the other variables that shape QOL indicators.

Virtual environments constitute the support platform for various teaching and learning activities. Instead of a local application for this purpose, this paper explores the effects of using distributed virtual reality environments in the educational process. The architecture of the presented system is based on the recently developed web-based technology called AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript And XML), implemented on a Linux operating system configured to run Apache with PHP and MySQL support; i.e., LAMP architecture, which contributes to the portability and ease of installation of the application. The platform is designed to support the integration of lesson modules such as the EngView environment which is discussed in more detail in this contribution. Pedagogical, technical, and implementation-related aspects are presented in conjunction with the virtual environment used in the engineering training curriculum. Statistical information resulted from the training shows a significant increase in task completion time when the virtual setup is used. Keywords: Virtual environment, Learning, Teaching, Motivation, Virtual training.Knowledge acquisition has shifted from an individual to a collective activity. There is a migration of the learning process from one individual to a group of individuals as knowledge becomes a collective activity enhanced by the phenomena of social interaction. The complexity of the information and the way we interact with it makes us active parts in the educational environment. Searching, discovering, and testing are the most frequent human activities in such situations. When an interpretive level of comprehension is reached, these activities are mature enough to trigger creational thinking, and constitute the beginning of the applied level of understanding. As complements to learning, virtual training gives constructive feedback to learners by providing them with a hands-on approach to the studied subject.In the following sections, we emphasize the potential of distributed virtual environments to improve the learning process. To prove the point, we try to answer one question: "What do the 3D virtual spaces bring into the learning processes in order to make them effective and evolutionary?"

Our contribution focuses on the behavioral aspects that are currently used in the modeling of the virtual inhabitants of a reconstructed GreekRoman colony in the framework of the TOMIS project. The project aims at promoting culture by the mean of the reconstruction of historical sites together with their virtual societies based on virtual and/or augmented reality technologies. Our efforts are oriented both on 3D modeling of virtual humans, animation of the virtual humans on every-day human activities and, most important, on the spicing these activities with human emotions. To this end, we iterate the most common agent-based architectures used to produce credible behavior of the virtual agents (humans or animals) in situations inspired from the real world, and emphasize their direct applicability both in humans and animal animations in order to obtain complex behavior based on atomic activities. Finally, the paper presents the technological issues related to the used motion capture technology, as source of high-definition human atomic actions, that participates in complex action plans for virtual agents activities.

The contemporary dimensions of quality management in Romania represent the fundamental means of evolution of all the agents involved in the dynamism of the market environment. Relevant in the debate of quality management in the hotel industry in Romania is the quality as a numerical and quantifiable direction in the evolution report. Quality management plays a major role in the economic science and management theory, to which is added the special attention from the tourism practices in the last years as a consequence of the direct association between quality and the satisfaction of human needs. The theory and practice of quality management in the hotel industry are accelerated and amplified with the development of society, but they are directly related to the genetic inheritance of the space, cultures, traditions, relief of Romania. The establishment of a quality service is one of the major challenges that management faces, as it is an essential condition for success in the hospitality markets in the emerging countries.