Museo virtuale della Via Flaminia Antica

Multiuser domains and virtual ecosystems for the transmission and communication of cultural heritage: the Virtual Museum of ancient Via Flaminia 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 and supported by Arcus Foundation, aims to exploit and diffuse cultural contents related to the Roman road and archaeological areas along it (Malborghetto Arch, Milvio Bridge, Grottarossa, Livia's Villa, 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 virtual museum was opened to public in January 2008. 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.