Virtual Reality Cultural Heritage Information Portal

VRCHIP (Virtual Reality Cultural and Heritage Information Portal) is a trial project implemented under the European Commission 5^th Framework Programme. The project aims to combine a virtual reality model of a small English town, stepped in history, with a database containing information on the town´s history and culture, to provide a new and stimulating way to carry out research. The project is being carried out by NNC Ltd. and Cheshire County Council Libraries, with NNC creating the application and the libraries providing the historical information. The project aims to address the significant number of enquiries received by the local libraries for information about Knutsford and its history. The result of this project is an application which is deliverable across local networks and the Internet and which successfully provides access to a wealth of information through a dynamic virtual environment, representative of the town both past and present, providing an enriched research experience.