Post-pandemic heritage Game design tools for an engaging experience

Digitization of heritage and the creation of open digital archive contribute in a large scale dissemination of history and culture, and become important in particular in the post-pandemic world. Today, technology allows us not only to easily access information on heritage and view 3D models of buildings or artifacts, but also to experience virtually historic sites or historic objects, by representing them accurately, either referring to the representation of exiting objects or rebuilding models of objects as they may have appeared in the past (Roussou, 2002). Moreover, digital heritage platforms allow visitors to navigate through virtual spaces and access information data, but still provide a low level of interactivity and immersion (Champion, 2008). By providing simple navigation they offer passive interaction and less engagement, while affords to navigate and have inputs to which to respond offer a more active mental interaction. However, what is missing is dynamic involvement of users and an engaging narrative. Although, digital models today are becoming more and more realistic representations of the physical objects and in general of the environment, they still lack a narrative which describes the intangible elements of cultural heritage, human attitude in this environment and simulates the cultural context. In order to guarantee an effective engagement with learning experience and offer better entertainment to a larger audience, other than conservators, historians and archaeologists, this study will introduce an interactive and immersive approach in heritage 3D platforms based on game design tools. The paper will explore first the state of the art on virtual heritage worldwide and in particular applications in the case of Albanian heritage, highlighting the level of interactivity and user engagement. Then, interactive tools from video games will be analyzed and discussed in view of their incorporation in virtual heritage platforms or serious games to make the dissemination of virtual heritage more interactive and immersive. In this sense, this study will discuss how to develop interactive narrative for historical heritage based on interactivity and narration elements, how to develop an interactive story space and introduce player character as a view point in heritage exploration.