A Survey of Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality for Cultural Heritage

Abstract

A multimedia approach to the diffusion, communication, and exploitation of Cultural Heritage (CH) is a well-established trend worldwide. Several studies demonstrate that the use of new and combined media enhances how culture is experienced. The benefit is in terms of both number of people who can have access to knowledge and the quality of the diffusion of the knowledge itself. In this regard, CH uses augmented-, virtual-, and mixed-reality technologies for different purposes, including education, exhibition enhancement, exploration, reconstruction, and virtual museums. These technologies enable user-centred presentation and make cultural heritage digitally accessible, especially when physical access is constrained. A number of surveys of these emerging technologies have been conducted; however, they are either not domain specific or lack a holistic perspective in that they do not cover all the aspects of the technology. A review of these technologies from a cultural heritage perspective is therefore warranted. Accordingly, our article surveys the state-of-the-art in augmented-, virtual-, and mixed-reality systems as a whole and from a cultural heritage perspective. In addition, we identify specific application areas in digital cultural heritage and make suggestions as to which technology is most appropriate in each case. Finally, the article predicts future research directions for augmented and virtual reality, with a particular focus on interaction interfaces and explores the implications for the cultural heritage domain.

A smartphone‐based augmented reality system for university students for learning digital electronics

“…The impact of mobile AR in geography education: achievements, cognitive loads and views of university students [34] Healthcare AR learning environment for physiotherapy education [19] History A survey of augmented, virtual, and mixed reality for cultural heritage [7] Medicine Interactive Anatomy-Augmented Virtual Simulation Training [1] Museum Svevo tour: The design and the experimentation of an AR application for engaging visitors of a literary museum [14] Natural science VR-based value-added visualization of infographic for enhancing learning performance [23] Physics Virtual laboratories in teaching natural sciences: An example of physics courses in university [13] AR: augmented reality; VR: virtual reality. [25].…”

Bridging cultural heritage and communities through digital technologies

“…As a result, we have been witnessing a proliferation of community-led cultural heritage endeavours that take advantage of platform solutions (often web-based) to collect, manage, or display cultural heritage [30,67]. Community participation has strongly revolved around digitising manifestations of cultural heritage that are strongly linked with the cultural identity of the participants, such as -among others -islander way of life [30], regional and local cultural distinctiveness [8], traditional dances [32], and indigenous culture [36], while the technology deployed includes Linked Data [8,52], crowdsourcing support systems [52], exergaming [32], wikis [30], and virtual reality [9].…”

Digital color reconstructions of cultural heritage using color‐managed imaging and small‐aperture spectrophotometry

“…Incident light can be modulated spatially across the artwork to add color to faded areas, as was done for a faded Rothko color‐field painting . Augmented reality could also be used . The advantage of these approaches is the presence of the artwork, making these reconstructions appear more realistic…”