BUILT HERITAGE VISUALIZATIONS IN IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENTS TO SUPPORT SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENTS BY MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS

Abstract. In recent years, technological advances in game engines allowed researchers to propose methodological frameworks for integrating digital models of the built heritage in Virtual (VR), Augmented (AR) and Mixed Reality environments. Among other benefits, specific applications have demonstrated the potential of such immersive environments to raise awareness about the significance of historical objects, share associated knowledge and facilitate its collaborative management. Based on the necessity to retrieve information about users' experience, this research considers the potential of such environments to include a broader range of stakeholders in the value assessment process for historical sites and objects and provide more comprehensive representations of their significance for society. This paper proposes implementing a collaborative framework for value assessment in a virtual environment that combines multiple heritage representations to explore this issue. A prototype is further implemented on a practical case study, namely the Collegiate Church of Saint-Jean, located in Liège, Belgium.