Novel Virtual Reality Solutions For Captivating Virtual Underwater Tours Targeting The Cultural And Tourism Industries

The underwater environment beyond its natural unique beauties has a great scientific interest as it pertains all fields of marine research; despite this, it has not been adequately exploited for cultural and tourism purposes. Virtual and augmented reality technologies have advanced considerably in re-producing and representing unreachable large-scale environments. To this end, this work presents an integrated interactive framework for exploring the underwater world such as submerged cities, shipwrecks, sunken harbors, diving and marine parks, either in situ via augmented reality, or remotely via virtual reality. Firstly, the designed solution exploits high-resolution visual and range data acquired with state-of-the-art technologies (swath mapping systems, underwater vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles) and processed through novel approaches to create a synthetic topographic relief basemap and to analyze its geomorphology, as well as the anthropogenic interventions. Secondly, this framework allows to write narrative scenarios and produce interactive VR experiences, through a set of custom tools for multimedia content management. The developed framework, named VIRTUALDIVER, will enable domain experts to design immersive xReality experiences and users to experience environments that are typically accessed only by underwater vehicles in cost-intensive, scientific missions. This will promote the underwater cultural heritage, and natural environment through the development of innovative research, teaching, tourism and creative products.