Museum Interactive Experiences through a 3D Reconstruction of the Church of Santa Chiara

This paper presents a unique museum interactive experience that provides a ‘digital repatriation’ of the Church of Santa Chiara located in Florence, Italy (deconsecrated in 1808) with its chapel and altars that are located in the recently opened Medieval and Renaissance Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. This digital repatriation, for the enjoyment of the cultural heritage tourist, is achieved through a 3D reconstruction of the church, chapel and altars embedded in a touch screen interactive with their associated digital heritage content based around the themes of People involved in the church during the renaissance period, Different Views of the church, and related Altarpiece and Churches from the Florentine renaissance period. The main interactive is based on a 3D reconstruction and photo-realistic rendering available to visitors at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Medieval and Renaissance Galleries; in addition a Wed 3D version (or virtual museum) is also available online for the digital tourist.