Abstract
This paper reports on the experiences of the EARTH_LAB of Free University of Bozen-Bolzano that has been working in the field of digitization of heritage for years with the aim of realizing educational paths, both in schools and museums, of art education and the study of graphic and visual sciences in the field of architectural representation, education and visual studies. In particular past and present projects about virtual and augmented reality for heritage education will be presented with a particular focus on the enhancement of South Tyrol heritage, especially of the two cities of Brixen and Bozen. A workflow will be presented to make digital the urban environment with the aim to develop digital services for heritage education and didactics. In particular the first step concerns the acquisition of urban data of the historical centers of Brixen and Bozen with architectural survey campaigns of the monuments and urban heritage that have been selected using 3D laser scanner, drones, 360° HDR photos. After the second step of data processing, the third steps consists in the production of navigable models of the heritage stored in an extensive digital catalogue of the heritage that could be used for different purposes such as simple visualization, geometric study, static verifications, protection. In particular there are used for the construction of educational paths through VR and AR navigation for implementing enhancement projects dedicated mainly to citizens but also to tourists. Moreover, the same models are used for the design and implementation of the serious game for heritage education in schools and the high degree of interdisciplinarity (scholars of graphic science, digital heritage, interaction design, art history, pedagogy and psychology are involved in the research) provide the project with a wide scope of application and accuracy of the design process.