A Content-Centered Methodology for Authoring 3D Interactive Worlds for Cultural Heritage

The application of 3D visualization technologies to cultural heritage has deeply evolved along years, shifting from the role of an ancillary technical solution to the dignity of a new media. However, the responsibility of building a complete 3D world often relies on a single designer who must be expert in different domains: graphics, interaction, and application domain. In this paper we propose a new conlentcenter-ed methodology for the production of 3D interactive environments for cultural heritage, including a more appropriate definition of subjects and skills involved. The methodology has been applied to the design of guided tours presenting cultural events, in order to test its benefits. The experimental results demonstrate that this methodology enables content experts to produce significant 3D experiences collaborating with a team of computer scientists, without concerning about low level implementation details. that communicate efficiently with the underlying hardware. Application developers don't need to worry about underlying hardware. but have a standard wav to write their application; this guarantees both rapid development and portability of solutions across different graphic platforms. Advances in hardware today allow users to explore 3D scenes in rcal time, enlarging the issues related to 3D rcpresentation. This new situation has led human computer interface specialists to study the issues related to interaction in 3D scenes. If the early computer graphics years were characterized by the production of static renderings of scenes, to be used as a complementary support to presentations performed with other media, today 3D graphics have acquired the dignity of a new media, often used autonomously as a new way to communicate, to teach and to play i l l . This change of perspective due to hardware and software advances requires a re