VirtualTour: A System for Exploring Cultural Heritage Sites in an Immersive Way

Abstract

In this paper, we propose VirtualTour. This is a virtual reality app for Apple iOS 8 (tablets, smartphones) supporting the easy and natural exploration of Cultural Heritage sites captured with 3D scanning technologies or modeled by artists. VirtualTour proposes a novel approach for exploring virtual sites by exploiting modern mobile devices (tablets or phones) and their embedded sensors. The navigation is constrained to follow a pre-defined path in the virtual space; the user can progress on the path either by manipulating a simple slider or directly walking in real-world (the device sensors detect user's steps and progress accordingly in the virtual visit). The view is rotated according to mobile device's rotation (again, using the device sensors). The main focus of this app is to provide a mobile access to hidden or inaccessible sites (e.g. caves, temples, buildings, etc), using 3D representation and breaking the usability barrier that often hinders the navigation in complex models on top of mobile devices.