Multiuser Virtual Reality museum application for Cultural Heritage: the Ancient via Flaminia project

The paper presents a VR Multiuser project dedicated to the Roman "Via Flaminia", the important consular road that connected Rome to Rimini, constructed in 220 B.C. by Gaio Flaminio. The project, started in 2005, aims to exploit and diffuse cultural contents related to the Roman road and archaeological areas along it (Malborghetto Arch, Milvio Bridge, Grottarossa, Villa of Livia, Roman National Museum). The final result is the creation of a "virtual museum" inside the Roman National Museum (Diocletian Thermal Baths) in Rome, where some artifacts coming from Via Flaminia are in exhibit. The application public opening will be in December 2007. The VR application is based on a new methodological approach in the field of digital virtual heritage: the combination of storytelling and multi-user domain (MUD). The paper will analyze the problems encountered, the solutions adopted, some museum communication and technological issues. We found that virtual reality systems, virtual storytelling and multi-user domain, inter-connected according to an integrated methodological approach, can offer very efficacious solutions for educational and research purposes, involving the users in collective fruitions of cultural contents.