Modelling Place Elements in Virtual Heritage Environment

While technology and digital tools to support virtual heritage is rapidly improving, there is still a lack of research on the suitability of user interaction for cultural heritage reconstruction and finding means to support sense of place in virtual heritage environment (VHE). In fact, most success stories in virtual heritage research have comprised of the technical ingenuity in advanced reconstruction technology. Given the complexity and unique attributes of place features, it would seem a daunting task of reconstructing place elements in VHE. The question then arises: which elements of real places should be ´virtualised´ to trigger the user´s sense of place in VHE? Considering the vast array of distinctive and unique features associating place to people´s experience in current and past researches, a conceptual reconfiguration method would be necessary to provide an integrated and unambiguous workflow. The paper presents a conceptual outlook on the process of modelling place elements in VHE towards providing users with meaningful contents and interactions adapted to the desired locality and milieu.