Visualising Dudsbury Hillfort: Using Immersive Virtual Reality to Engage the Public with Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Whilst computer visualisation is an established method of presenting cultural heritage, the use of game engines to provide a full immersive virtual reality experience is less well developed. This research documents the development of a visualisation of an Iron Age hillfort using Unreal Engine together with LiDAR terrain data to create a fully immersive experience for the virtual visitor. The visualisation was evaluated by 36 members of the public. The results show a high degree of satisfaction with the visualisation and agreement with the results of other studies demonstrating significant differences between those new to and those familiar with virtual reality applications. The conclusion is that in combination, game engines and LiDAR are effective tools for creating engaging virtual heritage visualisations.