THE AGORA OF SEGESTA IN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS Albertini Niccolò 1 , Barone Vincenzo 1 , Brogni Andrea 1 , Legnaioli Stefano 2 , Licari Daniele 1,3 , Taccola Emanuele 4 1 Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy; 2 ICCOM-CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy; 3 INFN Sezione di Pisa; 4 University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Keywords: Photogrammetry, 3D reconstruction, Virtual archaeology, Holographic display, Unity 3D, CAVE. Abstract Virtual Environments simulate the real world with the aim to reproduce an experience as realistic as possible. Immersive environments may help to study historical reconstructions, because they allow to simulate and analyze realities distant from us in time and space. This paper describes the development of immersive virtual environments for the study of the agora of Segesta. The DREAMS Lab at Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) has developed applications that give the user the opportunity to explore and walk inside the agora, appreciating its details as in the Hellenistic age. In particular, the application created for the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) exploits Microsoft Kinect sensors and spatial audio to provide a highly realistic experience. Moreover, an innovative system for augmented reality is proposed for the time evolution study of the agora. The system creates holograms based on 3D reconstruction of the original Hellenistic-age building. The measurements performed on the architectural structure of the agora have provided important information for the 3D reconstruction and the images acquired from the real environment have been applied as textures on the 3D model. The acquisitions were realized by photogrammetry and 3D modeling techniques: all available historical and archaeological evidences were used to reconstruct the building in its historical context. The photo-realism of the virtual environment is obtained using image post- processing effects provided by a 3D graphical engine. Also, the surrounding scenery is created by images captured on the archaeological landscape, having as ultimate objective the accuracy of the historical reconstruction. Finally, augmented reality application was developed to superimpose the 3D model of the current excavation on the 3D printed model, realized with the DREAMS3D’s high-definition 3D printer that allows reproducing the complex geometries and small architectural details. 1. INTRODUCTION Virtual Reality (VR) and Cultural Heritage (CH) are two worlds that have been in contact many times in the last years, sometimes creating very interesting projects but often not fully taking advantage from the possibilities of this collaboration. New technologies are now widely spread to the public and not only to the people working in high-tech fields: most of the people now can use a mobile with cameras and sensors, can go in a cinema watching a 3D movie and is used to see graphical informations in museums and exhibitions. This situations helps the researchers to increase the level of collaborations between VR and CH, aiming to what is a paramount for high quality results: a complete synergy. Nowadays, the ideas are coming from a strong interaction between the two areas, and this multidisciplinary dialog allows to very innovative and effective 299 SESSION A - Resources of the Territory ____________________________________________________________