A special eyesight to a lost past: Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard and SketchFab to support the digital reconstruction of the St. Donato cathedral in Arezzo, Italy

For the archaeological area of the "Pionta" in Arezzo, Italy, the interpolation between archaeological and architecture can find a great occasion of collaboration. The ancient citadel, once on this small hillock is now disappeared, leaving only poor traces. The lost St. Donato Cathedral becomes the occasion to create a complete 3D digital model was produced out of all the available traces, and later brought to virtual interactive usage through the use of Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard to offer information and knowledge about this place using a VR environment. In the following paper the process will be described in all its key passages, from the digital survey of the area, to the definition of architectural elements, to the making of the interactive model of this lost cathedral.