This paper presents a scientifically controlled method for developing serious games focused on architectural heritage, emphasising their role in enhancing and popularising cultural assets. The study stems from work carried out during the PhD Course in History, Representation, and Restoration of Architecture, using Palazzo Barberini in Rome as a case study. By focusing on its outdoor spaces and façade, the research tested an operational workflow and addressed challenges in its implementation. Unlike other cultural assets, architecture requires a cognitive approach reflecting its experiential nature, as “architecture is like a great sculpture carved into which man penetrates and walks” [1]. Extended Reality (XR) technologies were applied to recreate this experience. The Serious Game for Palazzo Barberini integrates both interchangeable in situ and remote gameplay modes. Virtual reality enables immersion and spatial comprehension remotely, while augmented reality enhances interaction on-site. These technologies transform users from passive observers into active participants, fostering experiential learning and deeper engagement with cultural heritage. The game’s development relied on comprehensive digital surveys to ensure formal and spatial consistency with the architecture. Panoramic photographs and graphic enhancements were used to create interactive panoramas designed to spark curiosity and emotional engagement. In conclusion, combining serious games with XR proves highly effective for cultural enrichment and edutainment. This approach enhances accessibility, promotes both entertainment and education, and preserves the authenticity of cultural assets.
Securing the Future: Cybersecurity Challenges and Approaches in Extended Reality and Interactive Experiences
Extended Reality (XR) and interactive experiences are revolutionizing training by bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. Unlike traditional methods, such as text-based manuals or passive video demonstrations, XR enables scenario-based simulations that allow users to engage with real-world challenges in a risk-free environment. This approach can enhance engagement, improve knowledge retention, and ensure that content can be adapted to evolving industry demands and emerging knowledge.
However, the widespread adoption of XR also raises critical cybersecurity concerns, particularly regarding data collection, management, and protection. The absence of established policies and procedures exacerbates these risks, increasing vulnerability to data breaches and cyberattacks. Without more stringent regulatory frameworks, XR platforms may inadvertently compromise security rather than strengthen it.
This paper examines the intersection between XR and cybersecurity, highlighting both the transformative potential of immersive learning experiences and the urgent need for robust data protection measures. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensuring that XR technologies can be safely and effectively integrated into training environments without undermining security principles.
Integrated Level Design Generation Methodology for Virtual Exploration in XR Mode
In recent years, digital technologies have become increasingly important in preserving and promoting cultural heritage. Virtual recreations of historical spaces offer immersive experiences that bridge the past and present or address the issue of inaccessible locations. However, digitizing real sites for use in applied games poses technical, methodological, and stylistic challenges, particularly concerning interactivity and virtual exploration. This paper details the digitization of the historic center of Brixen for a serious game aimed at heritage promotion, based on a project developed during the 2023 UID Summer School led by Prof. Luigini and Prof. Rossi. Instead of relying on concept art and photographs, the project used real-world elements optimized for real-time rendering (RTR) to achieve photorealism within a digital environment. The objective is not to create an exact replica, but rather to evoke the atmosphere and memory of the place within the game experience.
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.
Second World War Landing on Elba Island: A Serious Game Reconstruction
The paper presents the development of a serious game aimed at reconstructing and communicating the historical events of the Allied landing on Elba Island during World War II (Operation Brassard, June 1944). The methodology integrates historical archival research, digital survey (TLS and drone photogrammetry), and 3D modeling to create an accurate reconstruction of military structures and landscape. These data are implemented into a real-time interactive environment using a game engine (Unreal Engine), enabling immersive exploration and interaction. The system is structured through a Game Design Document (GDD), defining storytelling, gameplay, and educational objectives. The resulting experience combines historical accuracy with interactive learning, allowing users to engage with reconstructed scenarios, understand spatial and strategic dynamics, and explore cultural heritage through gamified and immersive narratives.
Measuring the Quality of Architecture. Serious Games and Perceptual Analysis Applied to Digital Reconstructions of Perugia Fontivegge Station Drawing Evolution
This paper investigates the use of virtual reality and serious games as tools for evaluating the perceptual quality of architectural spaces through user interaction analysis. The research aims to understand how built environments influence human perception by comparing immersive experiences in digitally reconstructed scenarios. The methodology is based on the creation of two virtual environments representing different design phases of the Perugia Fontivegge railway station: the current configuration and an unbuilt nineteenth-century project. As shown in the workflow (pp. 660–666), users explore these environments in VR while their movements, head orientation, and eye-tracking data are recorded. A computational process projects visual cones onto discretized 3D surfaces to generate heat maps that identify areas of visual attention. The results reveal both similarities and differences in spatial perception between the two scenarios, highlighting how architectural form influences orientation, focal points, and user experience. The study demonstrates that immersive simulations can support design evaluation, enabling the analysis of both existing and hypothetical spaces and opening new perspectives for data-driven architectural design and user-centered planning.
Immersive Ro(o)me. A Virtual Reconstruction of Rome in 1750
This paper presents the development of an immersive virtual reconstruction of Rome in 1750, designed as a serious game to support cultural heritage dissemination through interactive storytelling. The research integrates historical analysis, iconographic sources, and three-dimensional modeling to recreate the urban fabric of eighteenth-century Rome within a game engine environment. The methodology combines urban reconstruction based on cartographic sources such as the Nolli map with a hierarchical modeling strategy that distinguishes primary, secondary, and tertiary elements to optimize visual perception and navigation. As illustrated in the modeling workflow (pp. 647–650), parametric modeling and procedural rules are used to generate urban morphology, while textures, lighting, and environmental elements contribute to recreating the perceptual identity of the historical city. The virtual environment is structured as an open-world interactive system in which users explore the reconstructed city, interact with characters, and engage in narrative-driven tasks based on a Game Design Document. Results demonstrate that serious games can enhance user engagement, support learning-by-doing processes, and effectively communicate complex historical and architectural content, while also highlighting the importance of balancing historical accuracy with gameplay and usability.
Cultural Sprawl: The Opportunities of AR for Museum Communication
This paper explores how Augmented Reality can extend museum communication beyond institutional walls by connecting cultural collections with urban public space. Developed through a collaboration between the Museo Egizio of Turin and Politecnico di Torino, the project proposes a mobile AR application centered on the funerary assemblage of Kha and Merit. Users engage with interactive storytelling and gamified experiences distributed across key locations in Turin, where digital avatars and reconstructed artefacts appear in real environments through AR. The app combines 3D modelling, animation, educational narratives, and location-based interaction to create new relationships between museum objects, city landmarks, and visitors. Through playful tasks involving the senet game, the Book of the Dead, Merit’s toiletries, and a final X-ray preview of the museum galleries, the system encourages users to visit the museum while learning about ancient Egyptian life and beliefs. The research demonstrates AR’s potential to transform museums into distributed cultural ecosystems accessible before, during, and beyond the physical visit.