Digital heritage applications as an edutainment tool

With the fast-growing technological advancements in Virtual Reality (VR) technology and easier access to more affordable computer graphics hardware, it has become possible to create a diverse range of VR applications that are not only geared towards scientific research and medical training applications but also for "edutainment" purposes for the general public. "Edutainment" is an upcoming field that combines education with entertainment aspects thus enhancing the learning environment to be much more engaging and fun-filled. In this paper, we describe a project on a Digital Heritage application aimed to serve as an edutainment tool. The visitors are able to virtually "enter and explore" the reconstructed heritage environment and learn more on the presented content through virtual experiences. We have incorporated a Virtual Tour Guide that presents the cultural and historical content through nonlinear digital storytelling techniques for the dynamic content creation to fit the changing profiles and needs of the visiting audience.