Virtual Tourism with 3D Mapping and VR Technologies: An Immersive Approach to Cultural Heritage Preservation

This study investigates the 3D mapping and VR technologies for virtual tourism applications by utilizing Souq Al-Alawi, which is a UNESCO heritage site located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Virtual reality is a technology that has opened up possibilities for low-cost, immersive traveling experiences without being bound by physical locations. This study introduces a holistic 3D virtual model of Souq Al-Alawi that utilizes a combination of close-range photogrammetry methods, image-based modeling (IBM), Geographic Information System (GIS) data, and presentation in the Unreal Engine. This methodology combines a systematic GIS data collection technique with historical record keeping, IBM 3D modeling techniques for facades digitization, as well as VR integration to arrive at an interactive virtual tour experience. In the preprocessing step, distortions in building facades induced by narrow street layouts were evaluated and rectified using advanced IBM techniques aiming to maximize geometric accuracy and visual plausibility. The developed platform produced 41 three-dimensional models and 426 image-based models across three survey zones, with photogrammetric processing achieving RMS reprojection errors of 1.115, 0.554, and 0.55 pixels. The VR environment maintained a consistent rendering performance of 90 frames per second, enabling smooth real-time navigation. The resulting interactive 3D navigational map demonstrates the technical feasibility of integrating photogrammetry, GIS, and VR technologies to support virtual tourism and digital cultural heritage documentation.