Summary
Using the Tampines Chinese Temple in Singapore as a case study of cultural heritage sites, this study offers a methodological framework for the creation of a VT to preserve both the tangible and the intangible cultural heritage. In fact, virtual tours have been disproportionately focused on documenting the tangible structure of heritage sites, while adopting a holistic approach would allow people to learn more about that cultural heritage. This paper highlights how important it is to incorporate intangible elements, such as information on the Taoist culture, into the VE. The methodology adopted by this group of researchers is highly replicable, because it is easy to implement and has a low cost.

Innovative VR tools and techniques
Spherical images were collected via
- a 360° camera
- two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution images obtained via a digital single-lens reflex camera.

The software used to generate the VR is Cupix, because:
- it allows geotagging information (text, images, audio)
- it required minimal human intervention in image processing
- it is possible to incorporate it into Google Street View.

For perspective rectification was used the “Perspective Image correction” tool.

This technique does not require high level of technical expertise and it does not have a high cost.

Future work applying this methods should use:
- higher-end devices with stronger computational power
- higher memory storage to generate VTs using more images.

VR in education
- Virtual visit of the Tampines Chinese Temple in Singapore through VR (e.g. Cupix software).
- VR can be used to preserve both the physical built environment and the intangible historical and sociocultural elements of cultural heritage sites.
- Intangible aspects of cultural heritage sites can go beyond information pertaining the built structure by also including socio-cultural knowledge.
- Ignoring intangible aspects means to “exclude the user as a multi-dimensional human being”.
- The VT is a pedagogical tool for the transmission of the knowledge to young generations and can encourage people to visit the temple on-site.