Integration of Virtual Reality and Database Systems for Cultural Heritage Dissemination

This paper deals with the development of interactive virtual reality (VR) environments. We argue that the integration of such type of environments with database technology has the potential of providing on one side much flexibility and on the other hand of resulting in enhanced interfaces for accessing contents from digital archives. The paper discusses the main issues related to such integration. It also describes two projects related to the use of advanced tools for the dissemination of cultural heritage contents. Within these projects an integrated framework has been developed that enhances conventional VR environments with database interactions.