The article, titled “Introducing Digitized Cultural Heritage to Wider Audiences by Employing Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiences: The Case of the v-Corfu Project”, presents a holistic approach to the design and implementation of projects that promote cultural heritage using immersive Virtual and Augmented Reality experiences, with the aim of attracting wider audiences. The article was written by a team consisting of Vasileios Komianos, Assistant Professor at the Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Athanasios Tsipis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Digital Media and Communication and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Audio and Visual Arts and Dr. Aikaterini Kontopanagou.
Using the v-Corfu project, “Virtual Exhibition Space of Corfu in the Fields of Tourism, Culture, and Environment,” implemented by the Ionian University, as a case study, the article addresses issues related to the creation of 3D content, user interaction with it, accessibility for as many user groups as possible, including people with disabilities, compatibility with different technologies and platforms, usability, and performance optimization in terms of computational efficiency. Lastly, the applications are thoroughly examined and evaluated concerning the achievement of the aforementioned objectives, with particularly positive results.
The article was accepted in the open-access journal Technologies (Q1, Impact Factor 4.2) of the MDPI publishing house following peer review and is available here.