Natural Interaction for Museum Installations Displaying Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of the Recreation of the Torre de La Parada

Abstract

[Abstract]: Natural interaction can play an outstanding role in the design of museum installations. This paper describes the software architecture and gesture-based interaction scheme utilised in a real application case, the virtual recreation of a 17th-century royal hunting lodge, today lost, that hosted an impressive collection of paintings by European masters such as Rubens and Velazquez. The installation is part of an actual exhibition that puts some of these paintings on display, along with the virtual replica of the building filled with the full collection, hence putting them in context for a better understanding of the painting's history and, at the same time, allowing the visitor to walk through and contemplate the architecture of the historical site. The interaction strategy evolved from a free movement scheme to an assisted one based on users' selection. To achieve such assistance, several active components have been designed and implemented. Virtual paintings, doorways, and spaces intervene to take the visitor from place to place inside the building, so the user is aware of the historical architectural heritage as they control the experience using simple gestures with their body.