Cultural Heritage Presentation in Virtual Environment: Czech Experience

A permanently increasing graphical power of commonly used computers opens a possibility to present highly detailed and richly textured three-dimensional models of cultural complexes using the web. Utilizing virtual reality paradigms, both experts and ordinary users can explore pieces of cultural heritage in a virtual environment. This paper introduces three different approaches to cultural heritage modeling and presentation in the Czech Republic. The first example, Celtic oppidum Závist, represents a simple but efficient utilization of the virtual reality for the archaeology. Next project, the Virtual Old Prague, is a complex web-based application allowing dynamic walks through virtual cities. Such models can be theoretically of any size. Finally, the on-going EU project, Virtual Heart of Central Europe, is an example of several cultural heritage sites thematically interconnected into a common virtual environment.