Abstract:

In conjunction with the current trends in the socialization of the cultural heritage, the role of information and communication technologies is increasing, which creates new opportunities for access to cultural values in the context of national policy in a priority area for the European Union. This policy is part of the global doctrine of sustainable development, which is based on the following basic principles: economic development, social balance, sustainability and environmental protection, incl. cultural heritage. As a result of the investments made for the socialization of the cultural heritage, the development of the regions is stimulated through economic activities related to the use of cultural resources for cultural tourism, the improvement of the territory and the human resource. In this sense, cultural heritage plays an increasingly important role in the current and the future regional development of the world.

In this paper, we present the current trends in the theories, methods, and technologies used in the development of computer games. Here we provide a brief overview of existing literature in this professional field. We present the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and technologies in the creation of games and their application in education.

We demonstrate the capabilities of photogrammetry – 3D modeling using realistic photographic images. We also show the use of this technology in creating complex 3D primitives and incorporating them into complex objects. Last but not least, we demonstrate different algorithms and software technologies for creating computer models of selected cultural heritage samples through the Unreal engine program. With the help of a lot of thread programming we show the possibility of building a virtual system that can be used by different users in real time. It can be either a virtual room or, for example, a virtual museum.

By presenting licensing agreements, we pay special attention to the fact that practically this type of technology is free of charge for universities.

The paper concludes with a synthesis of the results of a scientific debate about whether it is possible to create virtual realities with this type of technologies and to what extent we can engage young people in their realization.

Keywords:

Game engine, 3D, mixed reality.