Immersing in Cultural Heritage: Exploring Artworks Through an Augmented Reality Virtual Walking Tour

Augmented Reality (AR) stands as a transformative technology reshaping the accessibility of cultural heritage (CH) sites and artworks in digital form. With the integration of virtual avatars, AR applications are poised to revolutionize visitor experiences by immersing them in interactive narratives. However, conventional AR systems often limit avatars to specific points of interest (POIs), lacking guidance throughout the exploration tour. This paper introduces an innovative AR-based system tailored for immersive CH encounters, leveraging virtual avatars as navigational aids through indoor and outdoor exhibits and artworks. The core of this system comprises two main components: an authoring tool for content creation and an AR application for user visualization and interaction. The authoring tool empowers creators to define POIs and seamlessly associate digital content, while the AR application enables visitors to engage with this content, guided by virtual avatars throughout the augmented tour. A user evaluation was carried out with end-users to assess user satisfaction and ascertain the system’s adaptability to varying preferences, thereby enhancing its utility and appeal within cultural contexts.