A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality
Nowadays, virtual reality technologies and immersive virtual reality (VR) apps allow people to view, explore, engage with and learn about historic monuments and buildings, historic sites, and even historic scenes. To preserve our cultural heritage for future generations. it is essential that damaged...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/2/597 |
| _version_ | 1818542024829173760 |
|---|---|
| author | Ovidia Soto-Martin Alba Fuentes-Porto Jorge Martin-Gutierrez |
| author_facet | Ovidia Soto-Martin Alba Fuentes-Porto Jorge Martin-Gutierrez |
| author_sort | Ovidia Soto-Martin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nowadays, virtual reality technologies and immersive virtual reality (VR) apps allow people to view, explore, engage with and learn about historic monuments and buildings, historic sites, and even historic scenes. To preserve our cultural heritage for future generations. it is essential that damaged and dilapidated historic artefacts are accurately documented, and that steps are taken to improve user experiences in the areas of virtual visits, science and education. This paper describes an approach to reconstruct and restore historic buildings and mural paintings. The work process uses digital models that are then inserted into an interactive and immersive VR environment. Windows-Mixed Reality is used to visualize the said VR environment. The work method was applied at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), thereby creating a virtual three dimensional (3D) rendering of the architectural structures of the St Augustine Church in La Laguna and its murals. A combination of topography and terrestrial photogrammetry was used to reconstruct its architectural features, and the digital imaging tool DStretch<sup>®</sup> to recover its murals. The resulting 3D model was then inserted into an immersive and interactive VR environment created using the cross-platform game engine Unity. One of the greatest challenges of this project revolved around recovering the dilapidated and virtually nonexistent mural paintings using DStretch<sup>®</sup>. However, the final result is an immersive and interactive VR environment containing architectural and artistic information created within the video game engine Unity, which thereby allows the user to explore, observe and interact with a cultural heritage site in real time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:16:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d53129bbe6a94b3fb7dc4fe697324ca8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:16:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-d53129bbe6a94b3fb7dc4fe697324ca82022-12-22T00:48:35ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172020-01-0110259710.3390/app10020597app10020597A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual RealityOvidia Soto-Martin0Alba Fuentes-Porto1Jorge Martin-Gutierrez2Higher School of Engineering and Technology, Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, SpainArtwork Analysis and Documentation Service (SADOA-SEGAI), Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, SpainDepartment of Techniques and Projects in Engineering, Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, SpainNowadays, virtual reality technologies and immersive virtual reality (VR) apps allow people to view, explore, engage with and learn about historic monuments and buildings, historic sites, and even historic scenes. To preserve our cultural heritage for future generations. it is essential that damaged and dilapidated historic artefacts are accurately documented, and that steps are taken to improve user experiences in the areas of virtual visits, science and education. This paper describes an approach to reconstruct and restore historic buildings and mural paintings. The work process uses digital models that are then inserted into an interactive and immersive VR environment. Windows-Mixed Reality is used to visualize the said VR environment. The work method was applied at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), thereby creating a virtual three dimensional (3D) rendering of the architectural structures of the St Augustine Church in La Laguna and its murals. A combination of topography and terrestrial photogrammetry was used to reconstruct its architectural features, and the digital imaging tool DStretch<sup>®</sup> to recover its murals. The resulting 3D model was then inserted into an immersive and interactive VR environment created using the cross-platform game engine Unity. One of the greatest challenges of this project revolved around recovering the dilapidated and virtually nonexistent mural paintings using DStretch<sup>®</sup>. However, the final result is an immersive and interactive VR environment containing architectural and artistic information created within the video game engine Unity, which thereby allows the user to explore, observe and interact with a cultural heritage site in real time.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/2/597virtual realitycultural heritagedstretch<sup>®</sup>digital image analysisrgb imagesunityvirtual reconstructionreintegrationmural paintings |
| spellingShingle | Ovidia Soto-Martin Alba Fuentes-Porto Jorge Martin-Gutierrez A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality Applied Sciences virtual reality cultural heritage dstretch<sup>®</sup> digital image analysis rgb images unity virtual reconstruction reintegration mural paintings |
| title | A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality |
| title_full | A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality |
| title_fullStr | A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality |
| title_short | A Digital Reconstruction of a Historical Building and Virtual Reintegration of Mural Paintings to Create an Interactive and Immersive Experience in Virtual Reality |
| title_sort | digital reconstruction of a historical building and virtual reintegration of mural paintings to create an interactive and immersive experience in virtual reality |
| topic | virtual reality cultural heritage dstretch<sup>®</sup> digital image analysis rgb images unity virtual reconstruction reintegration mural paintings |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/2/597 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ovidiasotomartin adigitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality AT albafuentesporto adigitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality AT jorgemartingutierrez adigitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality AT ovidiasotomartin digitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality AT albafuentesporto digitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality AT jorgemartingutierrez digitalreconstructionofahistoricalbuildingandvirtualreintegrationofmuralpaintingstocreateaninteractiveandimmersiveexperienceinvirtualreality |