Developing an Unreal Engine Virtual Tours Template for Museum Curators

Numerous studies explored the potential of Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) devices to enhance visitors experience in Cultural Heritage (CH), The iVR technology enables the reconstruction and exploration of lost heritage using 3D reconstruction, as demonstrated by recent reviews. The current paper presents the process of designing and implementing an Unreal Engine template for virtual tours in 3D reconstructed structures. The considered use case is the the Israelite four-room house. As part of the study, the remains of a four-room house were laser-scanned and a 3D model was constructed, completed by literature-based information. By considering different ways to interact with objects during a virtual tour, a dedicated objects class structure was developed. By implementing this in the Unreal Engine editor, which adapts its interface depending on the configuration of the custom objects, we obtained a reusable template project that requires a reduced set of skills to assemble a virtual tour, with respect to a blank project.