An Immersive Virtual Reality Interface for Archaeological Reconstruction

Archaeological reconstruction of fragmented artifacts presents a complex computational challenge that requires both algorithmic sophistication and expert domain knowledge. We present an immersive Virtual Reality interface that bridges our reconstruction solver with public engagement and expert annotation. Built within the RePAIR project, our system enables users to interact with high-fidelity 3D scans of 2000-year-old fresco fragments from Pompeii's House of the Painters, attempting manual reconstruction while leveraging AI assistance. Deployed at the Italian Pavilion during EXPO 2025, the system demonstrated both the intrinsic difficulty of archaeological reconstruction (low completion rates) and the potential for human-AI collaboration. Beyond public engagement, our interface serves potentially as a research platform for collecting expert annotations, benchmarking solver performance under varied initial conditions, and generating training data for future reinforcement learning approaches. Our work demonstrates how gamification and immersive technologies can simultaneously democratize cultural heritage and advance research methodologies.