I Musei del Futuro: il legame tra l’uomo e la macchina nell’immersività coinvolgente dei digital tools AR e VR

Museums have become more popular than they were in the past. In the last decades, the exponential growth in the number of visitors has been accompanied by an equally vast and extraordinary use of models and means made available by technical-scientific evolution. The museum has today the task of teaching about heritage today is a challenging one with a great deal of responsibility. Raising awareness and training new generations in the knowledge, protection, and transmission of cultural heritage, promoting their active role as individuals and members of communities, is currently considered an increasingly strategic element in the processes of identity construction, citizenship education, inclusion, promotion of intercultural dialogue and, therefore, a sure driving force of economic growth, rigorously civically sustainable. European policies on cultural heritage aim to promote the recognition of places of culture as hubs of territorial development, inclusion, and well-being. The use of digital technologies was greatly accelerated to create new models of expression, conservation, and diffusion of heritage, also to support the redefinition of the services offered by muse-ums. The use of increasingly effective and engaging educational paths is made possible using digital representation, both immersive (VR) and environmental (AR). Online devices and new on-site tools now enrich the planning of training initiatives aimed at involving an everincreasing number of users, making cultural heritage more accessible and defining new meeting places and responses to diversified needs. This attention shown by museum institutions towards digital can, in part, be traced back to the need to adopt usercentered strategies, exploiting the potential of new technological tools to better conform to the needs of a new public. The contemporary museum must therefore be attentive to all the moments in which it enters into relationships with its guests and to every activity that can contribute to their satisfaction and the raising of their understanding. Virtual models, even more so if they are enjoyed through immersive reality experiences (AR and VR), therefore take on a fundamental importance. Immersive reality does not simply provide visitors with a platform in which to consult the contents of the heritage but creates a virtual dimension that stimulates interactivity and enriches perception. Visitors can manipulate the learning environment to gain a deeper understanding through a digitally lived experience that feels like it belongs to the real world. If with 3D modeling it is possible to reproduce and make visible what no longer exists or is hidden from view, integration with AR/VR systems allows you to understand and explore them by moving autonomously within them; a digital journey capable of promoting learning – even in an unusual and fun way – and highlighting the value of the work. Online devices and new on-site tools now enrich the planning of training initiatives aimed at involving an ever-increasing number of users, making cultural heritage more accessible and defining new meeting places and responses to diversified needs.