Development of a Virtual CH Path on WEB: Integration of a GIS, VR, and Other Multimedia Data

Recent advances in computer science allowed people to explore new possibilities for the fruition of CH all around the world. The development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the field of territorial systems and the evolution of Virtual Reality (VR) solutions opened new scenarios for the valorization of cultural goods. At the same time, recent advances in digital photogrammetry and 3D interactive navigation models on WEB-based on WebGL technologies offered new opportunities of digital fruition of CH. Considering this panorama, the presented work shows how the integration of these technologies gives a precious added value to the virtual fruition of CH. In particular, it has been considered a cultural path in the La Loggia district, located into the historic centre of Palermo. This area is rich in monuments, many of them not accessible to the public, within the I-ACCESS European Project. The starting idea was to enlarge and diffuse, as much as possible, the accessibility to the knowledge of cultural goods in a virtual way, stimulating at the same time their real fruition. The developed solution implemented a GIS platform HTML 5 based and freely available online from desktop and mobile devices. In the virtual tour, everyone could navigate inside the cultural path, accompanied by touristic information, and come and visit the indoor environments of the main monuments. This work offers a new approach to accessibility and represents an example of how new technologies could support the diffusion of knowledge of CH.