Virtual reality for the enhancement of cultural tangible and intangible heritage: The case study of the Castle of Corsano

This paper concerns the development of an immersive VR application for the enhancement of an inaccessible old Castle in Corsano, a small village in Salento - Italy. Starting from the 3D reconstruction of the building, the project allowed the development of an interaction system aimed at providing the user with the historical information about the Castle. These contents come from the analysis of the tangible cultural heritage (such as the architectural elements, the furniture, the decorative motifs of the castle, and their evolution through the centuries), but also from the collection of intangible heritage, such as reminiscences on folk customs and traditions related to the context of the castle. Moreover, in order to evaluate the user experience of the developed application, some tests were carried out on a heterogeneous sample of users, obtaining positive feedback on the degree of immersiveness and sense of presence of the application.