This paper explores the use of digital techniques for rapid surveys in cultural heritage, focusing on the creation of virtual environments for educational purposes. It compares two prominent methods for 3D reconstruction: laser scanning and AI-enhanced photogrammetry, particularly Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF). The case study centers on the virtual reconstruction of the Eccel Kreuzer Museum in Bolzano, South Tyrol, which involved documenting its original layout before an exhibition change. The research evaluates the performance of the Leica BLK laser scanner against the NeRF-based 3D models generated from video footage captured with an Insta360 ONE camera. While laser scanning provides high-quality results, the NeRF method, leveraging AI-based algorithms, offers a faster, cost-effective solution, particularly in environments with reflective surfaces and confined spaces. Despite challenges in accuracy and computational demands, the AI approach proves suitable for rapid documentation, especially when precision is less critical. The study highlights the advantages and limitations of both techniques, contributing to the ongoing development of 3D digital heritage assets that balance speed, cost, and quality in various applications such as VR and AR educational environments.
Markerless AR Applications and 3D Printing for the Augmented Prototyping of the Franciscan Heritage of the XVIII Century
The Wooden Tabernacles research project, which began in September 2022 and is still ongoing, concerns the digitization of a series of wooden tabernacles produced between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as historical and artistic testimonies of the Capuchin order in Abruzzo.
The aim of the project is to obtain, through SfM photogrammetry, a series of geometrically accurate 3D models that can be used to create physical replicas of the surveyed objects through 3D printing technologies.
The research project also includes the implementation of an Augmented Reality (AR) application for the visualization of the mapped 3D models and other queryable information. As is well known, Augmented Reality allows digital elements to be superimposed onto a real scene; this feature generates an enhanced perception of reality by applying, through the use of specific devices, a digital information layer that modifies the real scene in order to deepen knowledge and understanding. By combining this technology with 3D printing, it becomes possible to associate a physical object with a series of informational contents that enrich its fruition and accessibility.
The Augmented Reality application will make it possible to expand the experience of using the replica by adding a series of digital information layers (photos, videos, and 3D models) that can be activated by framing the replica itself. This application has already been developed by implementing the Model Target functionalities available through the Vuforia libraries within the Unity software environment.
The 3D-printed prototype provides a physical reproduction of the object at a 1:5 scale, capable of accurately reproducing the richness of detail of the original artifact.
Rapid and Low-Cost 3D Model Creation Using Nerf for Heritage Videogames Environments
The paper explores the use of Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) for the rapid and low-cost creation of 3D heritage environments intended for educational videogames. The research focuses on reconstructing architectural heritage using 360-degree images and videos processed through Nerfstudio and Nerfacto workflows. Compared with traditional photogrammetry and laser scanning, the proposed approach aims to reduce acquisition effort while maintaining visually convincing reconstructions. The study demonstrates how NeRF-based pipelines can generate point clouds and meshes suitable for immersive heritage education, while also discussing limitations related to computational requirements and reconstruction resolution.
Digital Turris Babel. Augmented Release of Athanasius Kircher’s Archontologia
This paper presents a digital heritage project focused on Athanasius Kircher’s Turris Babel (1679), aiming to reveal and communicate the hidden visual contents enclosed within the pages of the historical book. The research develops a workflow that combines iconographic analysis, image retrieval, customized photogrammetric reconstruction, and 3D modelling to recreate the imagined architecture of the Tower of Babel and other illustrated elements such as the labyrinth. Since the tower never existed physically and survives only through engraved representations, the reconstruction process addresses the challenge of modelling an architectural fiction from a single historical source. The resulting models are integrated into a markerless augmented reality application developed with Unity and Vuforia, allowing users to navigate and explore the structures directly from the printed pages. The study demonstrates how low-cost AR tools can enhance accessibility, interpretation, and public engagement with rare books and visual cultural heritage.
The Sanctuary BVMA in Pescara: AR Fruition of the Pre–Conciliar Layout
The project presented here is addressed to the documentation, the investigation of architectural values and their valorization through an application of Augmented Reality technologies enhanced by an AI based tracking application of the Sanctuary Basilica Madonna dei Sette Dolori (BVMA: Beata Vergine Maria Addolorata) in Pescara. The workflow foresees the use of the numerous images taken for the phases of photogrammetric acquisition of the artefact and images taken from the visualizations of the cloud of laser scanner points in order to carry out the “education” phase of the AI software (so that the program can store the greatest number of images for a self interpretative reconstruction of the geometries). The AI data will then be used as a tracking structure for the AR overlay of the digital model on real space, all through a webXR application usable from any device (HMD, desktop or mobile).