Community Engagement in Cultural Heritage A Digital Context

A series of case studies outlining the application of virtual reality and digital technologies for cultural heritage is presented in this article with an aim to examine the role for community engagement and SMEs in cultural heritage within a digital context. Digital technologies can be a repository and tool for telling local stories in relation to place and time on site and virtually off-site. In a series of case studies, tools and technologies for virtual reality experiences are outlined to identify the appropriate tools which can best facilitate this community engagement. In addition, community-based digital heritage initiatives will be discussed with reference to the Faro Convention. These technologies include applying BIM or GIS for historic structures involves initially data capture of the geometry and texture using laser scanning or digital photogrammetry, and then converting the digital survey data to solid Building Information Models (BIM). The process is described as Historic BIM or Historic GIS and, in this paper, several virtual reconstruction case studies of Irish Megalithic and Romanesque structures are presented.