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From paper to virtual: The meta-life of a historical cartographic artifact
Vol 6, Issue 1, 2025
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Abstract
The Charta of Rigas Velestinlis is one of the most important works of the eighteenth-century Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment and the most characteristic sample of Greek scholar cartography. Printed in Vienna in 1220 copies in 1796-1797, this emblematic map of the Balkan peninsula significantly influenced the development of ideas and perspectives that inspired the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. The sixty (60) known remaining copies of this valuable material in Greece and abroad remain stored in the confined spaces of libraries, museums, and archives, strictly guarded for security, conservation, and preservation. This renders their access difficult to both the general public and the educational community. Since the Onassis Library and the General State Archives of Greece—Cartographic Heritage Archives both possess an original copy of this historical document each, they design and implement many educational programs aiming at highlighting its importance and reintroducing it to the public. This paper will present how the usage of new technologies, both in software and hardware, has facilitated the showcasing of cultural heritage artifacts, such as Rigas’ Charta, with an emphasis on technologies and resources that are freely available to everyone. It will also be demonstrated how the digitization projects, the digital libraries, repositories, and platforms implemented by many cultural and research organizations during the last decade, presented the opportunity for the new generation to come in contact with a variety of “locked away” historical documents, like Rigas’ Charta, allowing their reuse and reinterpretation while providing unlimited potential for the collection, research and presentation of facts, evidence and data. Furthermore, the incorporation of this digital cultural wealth in the school curriculum through targeted educational programs and the creative combination with open-source metaverse development tools, unleashed the possibilities of reviving the past, extending the life span of old materials to perpetuity. As a result, this multimodal approach paved the way for the emergence of a new more democratic, open-access, and inclusive educational model.
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Prof. Zhigeng Pan
Director, Institute for Metaverse, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, China

Prof. Jianrong Tan
Academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering, China
Metaverse Scientist Forum No.3 was successfully held on April 22, 2025, from 19:00 to 20:30 (Beijing Time)...
We received the Scopus notification on April 19th, confirming that the journal has been successfully indexed by Scopus...
We are pleased to announce that we have updated the requirements for manuscript figures in the submission guidelines. Manuscripts submitted after April 15, 2025 are required to strictly adhere to the change. These updates are aimed at ensuring the highest quality of visual content in our publications and enhancing the overall readability and impact of your research. For more details, please find it in sumissions...
On April 14, 2025, Prof. James Hutson from the United States delivered a lecture titled “Designing Neurosanctuaries in the Metaverse: Adaptive Virtual Spaces for Cognitive Restoration and Mental Health”...