Immersive technologies for Building Sustainable Reuse: a Virtual Reality-based inspection paradigm

The sustainable reuse of cultural heritage (CH) structures presents a pressing challenge within conservation, engineering, and architectural disciplines. Traditional visual inspection methods often fall short in providing comprehensive and repeatable documentation for degradation diagnostics. Recent advances in immersive technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), offer innovative approaches to structure monitoring and preservation planning. This paper explores a VR-assisted inspection methodology as a pathway toward sustainable reuse, examining the technical foundations, integration with structural health monitoring (SHM), and the broader implications for conservation strategy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public engagement. Drawing from an extensive review of recent case studies and the state-of-the-art in digital heritage documentation, the study critically assesses the strengths and limitations of immersive inspection systems and proposes a roadmap for their expanded adoption.