Immersive Virtual Reality in Archaeology: Enhancing Research and Public Engagement - A Case Study of the Temple of Juno Excavations in Agrigento, Italy

Abstract

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular in the creation of innovative content archiving and cataloguing solutions. In the field of archaeology, the utilisation of VR for both professional and non-specialist applications remain a relatively unexplored area. To address this gap, we present a VR application designed to streamline the storage and access of critical data for archaeological studies, while facilitating the presentation of these studies to the public. The application interface facilitates direct interaction with 3D models generated through photogrammetry and modelling techniques, facilitating two distinct yet complementary objectives: firstly, a detailed examination of the data collected, which in turn improves research activities; secondly, it brings visitors closer to the world of archaeological research. We applied this system to the case study of excavations at the Temple of Juno in Agrigento, Italy.