Description
The Metaverse concept, which has developed very rapidly in recent years, has also reached the cultural sector by defining new ways of visiting museums, archaeological parks, exhibitions, and other events. The aim of this research article is to present the experience conducted with the MAV - Museo dell'Artigianato Valdostano located in Fènis in Valle d'Aosta, which saw the design and realization within the Metaverse of an exhibition space containing digital artistic artifacts obtained by digitizing real ones. The purpose of the virtual museum is to create a complementary environment to the real museum, expanding its access potential and enhancing its contents on a global level. In this article, an attempt was first made to define, through a study of the state of the art, which technologies are at the basis of the Metaverse and which make the visit a realistic and immersive virtual experience. Then, we moved on to identify the methodology to be followed for a complete definition of the exhibition space and its artistic objects. As a first step, the objects to be exhibited in the virtual museum were digitized and modeled, by means of dedicated software, using laser scanner-based scanning methodologies. Once the digital element was obtained, we moved on to the modeling of the virtual museum environment within which the objects were placed. Subsequently, an in-depth study was conducted on the interaction of man, space, and object, which made it possible to study how the avatar, guided by the user, relates within a virtual space and, on the basis of the feedback provided by the users using the space, the final organization of the museum was arrived at. During this phase, the fundamental concept of interaction emerged, which was implemented and highlighted through the application of motion and audio triggers in order to make the environment more immersive. For an optimal view of the space, although it is also accessible through classic devices such as smartphones or PCs, a six-degree-of-freedom visor was used to accentuate the sense of presence within the environment.
