Step into Virtual Reality—Visiting Past Monuments in Video Sequences and as Immersive Experiences

Abstract

Recent advances in contemporary Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are going to have a significant impact on everyday life. Through VR, it is possible to virtually explore a computer-generated environment as a different reality, and to immerse oneself into the past or in a virtual museum without leaving the current real-life situation. Cultural heritage monuments are ideally suited both for thorough multi-dimensional geometric documentation and for realistic interactive visualisation in immersive VR applications. In this contribution, the generation of virtual 3D models of past monuments in Bad Segeberg, Germany, and its processing for data integration into the game engine Unreal is presented. The workflow from data acquisition via 3D modelling to VR visualisation using the VR system HTC Vive, including the necessary programming for navigation, is described. Furthermore, the use (including simultaneous multiple-user environments) of such a VR visualisation for Cultural Heritage (CH) monuments is discussed in this contribution.