Immersive and Interactive Experiences for the Enhancement of the Cultural Heritage of Inland Areas.

The Basilicata region, characterized by its mountainous landscape, is home to a network of small historic towns, eight of which belong to the “Montagna Materana” Inner Area—an area currently facing severe depopulation. Rethinking these territories through innovative digital tools requires not only physical documentation but also the restoration of connections between memory, identity, and transformation. This research focuses on the documentation and cultural enhancement of the historic village of Aliano through immersive and interactive technologies. Architectural surveys, archival data, and 3D modeling have been integrated to create a virtual environment for virtual tourism, in which models developed in Unreal Engine 5.6 reconstruct real spaces and atmospheres. This allows users to interact with both tangible and intangible heritage, enhancing cognitive processes through storytelling and learning-by-doing approaches. The multidisciplinary workflow supports the promotion of the village and provides a replicable model for other inland areas seeking sustainable cultural revitalization.

La regione Basilicata, con il suo territorio montuoso, ospita piccoli centri storici, otto dei quali rientrano nell’Area Interna ‘Montagna Materana’, oggi colpita da forte spopolamento. Ripensare questi territori tramite strumenti digitali innovativi, richiede non solo la documentazione "sica, ma anche il ripristino di connessioni tra memoria, identità e trasformazione. La ricerca si concentra sulla documentazione e valorizzazione culturale del borgo storico di Aliano mediante tecnologie immersive e interattive. Rilievi architettonici, dati d’archivio e modellazione 3D hanno creato un ambiente virtuale esplorabile per il turismo virtuale, in cui i modelli in Unreal Engine 5.6 ricreano spazi e atmosfere reali, permettendo all’utente di interagire con il patrimonio materiale e immateriale e potenziando i processi cognitivi tramite storytelling e learning-by-doing. Il workfow multidisciplinare favorisce la promozione del borgo e offre un modello replicabile per altre aree interne.