Towards Extended Reality to update the past of the Samnite culture

The paper presents the survey and the virtual reconstruction of the remains of the 3rd century BC ‘chamber’ type tombs found at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, along the southern slopes of Monte Massico. The frescoes decorating the walls, surveyed with photogrammetry, have been reconstructed to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of the deceased, creating a space of shared spatial reality. The paintings were schematically traced by discretizing the architectural elements. The use of the photogrammetric technique was of essential importance to create the basis for a virtual restoration of the tombs and for the accurate analysis of the wall paintings. Then, starting from the orthophotos of the tombs’ interior walls, the paintings were analysed and restored with the missing geometries to recreate the original appearance of the pictorial decorations. Since the tombs are irreparably damaged and the paintings are quickly disappearing, if not almost gone, the immersive environment is the only tool that allows the tombs to be restored to their ancient splendour. Subsequently, this environment is the only way to let contemporary people understand the feeling of immersion in the world of the dead that the ancient have experienced entering the tombs. If in the past it was the suggestion of the funerary rite, intensified by the environmental context, that enhanced the perception of the initiated, today it is advanced technology that makes it possible to design and construct collaborative spaces in which users can experience, with varying degrees of realism, meaningful and satisfying contexts.