Opportunities of the Use of Embodied Agents in Virtual Reality for Cultural Heritage

摘要

Virtual Reality is becoming an increasingly important tool for the research, the communication and the popularization of cultural heritage. However most of the available 3D interactive reconstructions of artefacts, monuments and sites often miss an important factor: human presence. Thanks to the advancements in the technology, in latest years Virtual Humans have started being used in a variety of cultural-related VR applications. From simple 2D characters to complex 3D avatars, technology continues to evolve and so is the adoption of virtual assistants in digital heritage. The acceptance of such tools deserves a greater attention from the scientific community.This talk will explore the state-of-the-art on this subject, underlining the technological challenges and also analysing the effects of avatar interaction on user engagement, sense of immersion and learning effectiveness.