Enhancing Accessibility of Cultural Heritage: Extended Reality and Tactile Prints for an Inclusive Experience of the Madonna Dell'Itri Church in Nociglia

This paper presents the partial development and implementation results of an ongoing project aimed at enhancing the accessibility of the Madonna dell'Itri Church in Nociglia (Italy), by means of different smart fruition tools. Thanks to a collaboration between the Department of Engineering for Innovation and the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Salento, along with the Municipality of Nociglia, the project aims to study and monitor the conservation status of the cultural asset, to enhance a smart fruition by means of eXtended Reality (XR) technologies and to improve accessibility of the site. This paper specifically focuses on the XR applications developed to achieve these goals, showcasing their potential to provide accessible solutions and improve the overall visitor experience, especially for individuals with special needs.