Advancing Knowledge and Fostering Connections for Networks of Historical Assets through Informative Systems and Virtual Reality

The safeguarding of historical-architectural heritage is achieved through complementary activities of cultural promotion, maintenance and conservation planning, often addressed independently, in terms of data collection and exploitation. Scientific debate has arisen to prevent this detachment between knowledge serving conservation professionals and institutions and knowledge provided to the wide public interested in learning general and specialized contents during a touristic visit. In this regard, the technical and academic community points out Virtual Reality (VR) as a unique way to deliver informational contents for both experts and non-experts, filtering it according to the purposes. In this framework, the chapter focuses on harmonized documentation, assessment and management of territorial networks of architectural assets exhibiting similarities in construction features or functional use. To this end, immersive and non-immersive VR is exploited that allows the multi-level and multi-disciplinary visualization of 3D models and environments of historical architectures within Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and databases. Within the chapter, the methodological framework of a web-based platform serving the above-mentioned purposes is presented and applied to the case study of traditional farmhouses in Apulia Region (South Italy). The platform comprises coloured point clouds, Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) and thematic virtual tours, along with data, maps and reports, related to decay mapping and diagnostic investigations, as a comprehensive hub for policy makers, technicians and general public.