A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for real-time, collaborative virtual tools to support remote activities across various domains, including education and cultural heritage. Virtual walkthroughs provide a potent means of exploring, learning about, and interacting with historical sites wo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Imaging |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/9/4/88 |
| _version_ | 1797604905961127936 |
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| author | Nicla Maria Notarangelo Gilda Manfredi Gabriele Gilio |
| author_facet | Nicla Maria Notarangelo Gilda Manfredi Gabriele Gilio |
| author_sort | Nicla Maria Notarangelo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for real-time, collaborative virtual tools to support remote activities across various domains, including education and cultural heritage. Virtual walkthroughs provide a potent means of exploring, learning about, and interacting with historical sites worldwide. Nonetheless, creating realistic and user-friendly applications poses a significant challenge. This study investigates the potential of collaborative virtual walkthroughs as an educational tool for cultural heritage sites, with a focus on the Sassi of Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy. The virtual walkthrough application, developed using RealityCapture and Unreal Engine, leveraged photogrammetric reconstruction and deep learning-based hand gesture recognition to offer an immersive and accessible experience, allowing users to interact with the virtual environment using intuitive gestures. A test with 36 participants resulted in positive feedback regarding the application’s effectiveness, intuitiveness, and user-friendliness. The findings suggest that virtual walkthroughs can provide precise representations of complex historical locations, promoting tangible and intangible aspects of heritage. Future work should focus on expanding the reconstructed site, enhancing the performance, and assessing the impact on learning outcomes. Overall, this study highlights the potential of virtual walkthrough applications as a valuable resource for architecture, cultural heritage, and environmental education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:53:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d14c9d176aa6459ea0019cba54d3a0a6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-433X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:53:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Imaging |
| spelling | doaj.art-d14c9d176aa6459ea0019cba54d3a0a62023-11-17T19:53:50ZengMDPI AGJournal of Imaging2313-433X2023-04-01948810.3390/jimaging9040088A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture NavigationNicla Maria Notarangelo0Gilda Manfredi1Gabriele Gilio2School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Economics, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, ItalyThe COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for real-time, collaborative virtual tools to support remote activities across various domains, including education and cultural heritage. Virtual walkthroughs provide a potent means of exploring, learning about, and interacting with historical sites worldwide. Nonetheless, creating realistic and user-friendly applications poses a significant challenge. This study investigates the potential of collaborative virtual walkthroughs as an educational tool for cultural heritage sites, with a focus on the Sassi of Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy. The virtual walkthrough application, developed using RealityCapture and Unreal Engine, leveraged photogrammetric reconstruction and deep learning-based hand gesture recognition to offer an immersive and accessible experience, allowing users to interact with the virtual environment using intuitive gestures. A test with 36 participants resulted in positive feedback regarding the application’s effectiveness, intuitiveness, and user-friendliness. The findings suggest that virtual walkthroughs can provide precise representations of complex historical locations, promoting tangible and intangible aspects of heritage. Future work should focus on expanding the reconstructed site, enhancing the performance, and assessing the impact on learning outcomes. Overall, this study highlights the potential of virtual walkthrough applications as a valuable resource for architecture, cultural heritage, and environmental education.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/9/4/88virtual walkthrougheducational and cultural heritage applicationscollaborative virtual learning environmentphotogrammetryhand gesture recognition (HGR)deep learning |
| spellingShingle | Nicla Maria Notarangelo Gilda Manfredi Gabriele Gilio A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation Journal of Imaging virtual walkthrough educational and cultural heritage applications collaborative virtual learning environment photogrammetry hand gesture recognition (HGR) deep learning |
| title | A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation |
| title_full | A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation |
| title_fullStr | A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation |
| title_short | A Collaborative Virtual Walkthrough of Matera’s Sassi Using Photogrammetric Reconstruction and Hand Gesture Navigation |
| title_sort | collaborative virtual walkthrough of matera s sassi using photogrammetric reconstruction and hand gesture navigation |
| topic | virtual walkthrough educational and cultural heritage applications collaborative virtual learning environment photogrammetry hand gesture recognition (HGR) deep learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-433X/9/4/88 |
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