5DMETEORA FRAMEWORK: MANAGEMENT AND WEB PUBLISHING OF CULTURAL HERITAGE DATA

Abstract

Cultural Heritage (CH) management software represents virtual information in various ways aiming either at usability and long-term preservation or interactivity and immersiveness. A single web-based framework that couples the organization of geospatial, multimedia and relational data with 4D visualization, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is presented in this paper (https://meteora.topo.auth.gr/5dmeteora.php). It comprises the 5dMeteora platform and the Content Management System (CMS) for uploading, processing, publishing and updating its content. The 5dMeteora platform integrates a responsive 3D viewer of high-resolution models in the basis of 3DHOP (3D Heritage Online Platform) and Nexus.js multi-resolution library. It offers data retrieval and interpretation mechanisms through navigation tools, clickable geometries in the 3D scene, named hotspots, and semantic organization of metadata. Its content and interactive services are differentiated, based on the scientific specialty or the field of interest of the users. To achieve the sense of spatial presence, VR and AR viewports are designed to give a clearer understanding of spatial bounds and context of 3D CH assets. The proposed CMS allows dynamic content management, automation of 3DHOP’s operations regarding 3D data uploading and hotspots defining, real-time preview of the 3D scene as well as extensibility at all levels (e.g., new data types). It is built upon a MySQL Database Management System and developed with PHP scripting, backend JavaScript and Ajax controllers as well as front-end web languages. The database maintains and manages the entities of every type of data supported by the platform, while encryption methods guarantee data confidentiality and integrity. The presented work is the first valid attempt of open-source software that automates the dissemination of 3D and 2D content for customized eXtented Reality (XR) experiences and reaches multiple levels of interactivity for different users (experts, non-experts). It can meet the needs of domain experts that own or manage multimodal heritage data.