Virtual cultural gates: Exploring cyberspace potentials for a creative cultural heritage: An experimental design approach for the on-line 3D virtual environments

Virtual worlds should not be assessed as substitutes of the real world, but rather as an additional dimension that offers a new field for artistic expression. Cyberspace has helped to break free from the shackles of traditional definitions of the built architecture. Cyberspace represents a new challenge to the designers who used to search for spaces of liberation and believed in the unlimited capacities it offers for creativity. This research presents an experimental design approach for the online 3D virtual environments throughout a conceptual design of the Virtual Culture Gates which are a group of online interactive virtual 3D spaces; a gate is majored for the culture of each nation to present some of its aspects inside cyberspace. This research also discusses three major challenges- the design concepts, virtual scenario and content which represent the creative trilogy for a successful 3D virtual environment.