Dhekalos Lab to Metaverse: Exploring XR Strategies for Digital Cultural Heritage

This chapter presents the design and implementation of Meta-Dhekalos, a digital twin of the Dhekalos Laboratory at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, developed within the Spatial platform. The project aims to transpose the physical lab into the Metaverse, enabling remote access, immersive interaction, and participatory dissemination of cultural heritage research. A curated selection of six XR-based digital experiences, spanning AR, VR, MR, and AI-enhanced environments, is also presented and integrated into the new Meta-space to reflect the lab’s evolving methodological and technological approaches. Each case was chosen for its ability to represent different stages and paradigms of immersive cultural storytelling. The chapter documents the criteria used in this selection and the design strategies adopted to translate them into a shared 3D environment. Finally, it presents the preliminary results of an evaluation test conducted with educators, offering early insights into presence, usability, and educational impact across the different experiences.