TY - GEN
T1 - Immersive Mediality and the Field of Digital Heritage
AU - Ch'ng, Eugene
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 IEEE.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Digital heritage emerged as a recognised field nearly two decades after the early development of immersive technologies. Paradoxically, its earliest practical applications were already deeply rooted in immersive media at a time when virtual reality was entering its 'second wave' of application areas, amidst second-generation technologies grouped into three domains: 3D documentation, 3D representation, and 3D dissemination. These developments enable immersive media to expand into new application domains, which in turn contribute to the understanding of the medium's structures and properties. Over the past two decades, advances in theory, technology, and scientific methods have progressively consolidated the field, shifting the emphasis toward the substance, accuracy, and long-term value of heritage through immersive media. How far, how deeply, and how well have immersive technologies penetrated digital heritage practice? This keynote paper critically examines the intersection of cultural heritage and immersive media, combining computational analysis with field-based experience to evaluate the field's development, current limitations, and future prospects, and providing a roadmap for designers and developers.
AB - Digital heritage emerged as a recognised field nearly two decades after the early development of immersive technologies. Paradoxically, its earliest practical applications were already deeply rooted in immersive media at a time when virtual reality was entering its 'second wave' of application areas, amidst second-generation technologies grouped into three domains: 3D documentation, 3D representation, and 3D dissemination. These developments enable immersive media to expand into new application domains, which in turn contribute to the understanding of the medium's structures and properties. Over the past two decades, advances in theory, technology, and scientific methods have progressively consolidated the field, shifting the emphasis toward the substance, accuracy, and long-term value of heritage through immersive media. How far, how deeply, and how well have immersive technologies penetrated digital heritage practice? This keynote paper critically examines the intersection of cultural heritage and immersive media, combining computational analysis with field-based experience to evaluate the field's development, current limitations, and future prospects, and providing a roadmap for designers and developers.
KW - Dissemination
KW - H.3.7 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Digital Libraries - Collection
KW - H.5.1 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems - Artificial, Augmented, and Virtual Realities
KW - I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]: Methodology and Techniques - Interaction Techniques
KW - I.3.7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism - Virtual Reality
KW - Standards
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038697151
U2 - 10.1109/VRW70859.2026.00010
DO - 10.1109/VRW70859.2026.00010
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105038697151
T3 - Proceedings - 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2026
SP - 17
EP - 24
BT - Proceedings - 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2026
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops, VRW 2026
Y2 - 21 March 2026 through 25 March 2026
ER -