VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

The Cave of Petralona is a unique natural and cultural monument, located in Chalkidiki, Greece. Apart from its exceptional formations of stalactites and stalagmites, the cave is well known for the oldest human skull that has been found so far in Greece and one of the most well preserved throughout Europe. The Museum of Petralona, which operates in the proximity of the cave, is dedicated on the one hand to highlighting the importance of the cave itself, and on the other hand to communicate the paleontological findings of the deepest prehistory to the wide public. The Cave and Museum of Petralona, have been recognized over the past decades into one of the best-known attractions of Chalkidiki and one of the most important monuments in Northern Greece. In the present work, we focus on the Virtual Museum that is being developed for the promotion of both the Cave and Museum of Petralona. The key purpose of the Virtual Museum is to present the complex structure of the cave, together with a significant number of the museum’s findings that have been digitized with state-of-the-art 3D scanning technologies. For the maximization of the cultural impact, the digital exhibition is supported by serious games (i.e. interactive games that allow players to practice skills and achieve aspects beyond simply enjoying a leisure activity), also developed to enhance the experience of the visitor, both for recreational and educational purposes. The work is realized in the framework of the Cave3 project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Hellenic national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the Special Action “Open Innovation in Culture” (project code: Τ6ΥΒΠ-00247).