Immersive Technologies in Virtual Heritage for an Innovative Tourist Experience the Case of the Berati Ethnographic Museum

Immersive technologies are becoming extremely effective tools for documenting and disseminating virtual heritage for educational and tourism purposes. With today’s technology, we can not only view 3D representations of historical buildings and artifacts, but also engage with them virtually. However, the current level of interaction they offer is often limited. This study represents an academic contribution in introducing innovative highly interactive VR tools aimed at enhancing tourist experiences. The virtual tour is seen as a form of video game entertainment offering interactive engagement with the virtual museum space. This study describes the methodology for developing a highly realistic and qualitative interactive virtual tour web application using the Berat Ethnographic Museum as a case study. The main challenge is to consider the optimization of the model in the different stages. The workflow starts with the collection of all relevant information about the site and the museum artifacts and the selection of the best surveying technique in view of subsequent optimization. The first phase involves surveying and digitizing the museum space and artifacts, followed by the creation of optimized 3D models for various artefacts. In the following phases, each 3D model is carefully textured and the lighting and camera settings are configured to be accurate and realistic. In the final phase, the 3D model is coded into a game engine and the project is packaged for web and VR platforms to run smoothly. This virtual experience will be made accessible to the public through the Smart Tour website, allowing visitors to deeply engage with heritage.