VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR AN ENRICHED VIEWING OF HISTORIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS Francesco Gabellone CNR – IBAM (Istituto per i Beni Archeologici e Monumentali), Via prov.le Monteroni, 73100 Lecce (Italy) f.gabellone@ibam.cnr.it Abstract Specialist studies and researches related to historic‐archaeological contexts are usually not properly disseminated. This vast academic literature rarely corresponds to a certain awareness of the importance of those results among the public. In many cases, peculiar features of cultural heritage are totally misknown, causing a relevant loss in terms of economic exploitation if not the abandonment of the heritage itself to oblivion. This phenomenon commonly happens in many archaeological areas all over the world, where a misleading perception of the importance of ancient architectonic spaces is inspired by the scanty conditions of the ruins, as poorness of remains could be synonymous of poorness of data. Several research groups interested in those issues have achieved methods and technologies aimed to obtain products able to contain problems of scarce knowledge and to allow tourists of being more involved during the visits. In this paper, the experiences gained in a decade of research, undertaken by the ITLab (Information Technologies Lab, CNR IBAM), aimed to study, valorisation, promotion and use of historic and archaeological contexts are elucidated. Those emerging and promising technologies that have marked a significant advance in the field of virtual archaeology will be discussed with emphasis on their potential in enhancing communication processes and edutainment. Many of those research activities have become real products, exploited by tourists and scholars for enriching their interaction experience, with a consequent growth in terms of tourist flux and diminishment in the misknowledge of the main contexts. Ancient Greek cities, as Metaponto, Herakleia, Siracusa, Taranto, Roman sanctuaries, Medieval and Modern monuments, have been virtually recreated of elucidated in stereoscopic videos in order to provide an alternative interpretation and for giving the emotion of a travel back in time blended with a high scientific rigor. Virtual environments and enriched vision The use of the term Virtual Heritage has become fairly common. Anyone concerned with cultural heritage, museums, historical and archaeological research, uses it to define innovative methodologies and technologies based on 3D digital technology used to represent, communicate and transfer diverse information about Cultural Heritage. The term Cultural Heritage defines all those material and immaterial components that make up the cultural patrimony of a particular society. This category includes tangible objects such as buildings, archaeological sites, works of human ingenuity, works of art, manuscripts, sites with special natural characteristics, sites with great scientific or anthropological value, but also immaterial heritage such as oral traditions, popular songs and artistic forms of expression that are closely tied to a cultural identity.