Interpretation of Heritage in Mountain Areas (Leitariegos and Cueto Arbás (Asturias, Spain)) Through Experience Based on Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective technology for the dissemination of geographical knowledge due to its visual, interactive, and dynamic nature. This technology allows for adequate valorization of the territorial attributes of marginal mountain areas undergoing tertiarization processes, as it provides suggestive experiences of approach, discovery, and interpretation. All of this should result in the fortification of the conservation process against the expansion of new uses that impact the inherited landscape. In this work, the aim was to design a VR experience for the interpretation of mountains that can be used by public and private entities as a strategy for differentiation in the context of positioning for territorial development. The study area covers the mountain pass of Leitariegos and the Cueto Arbás massif (a mountain in the west of Asturias and León, Northwestern Spain), which make up a geographical unit with ecological, aesthetic, ethnographic, and historical importance. Using a VR tool, we sought to enhance the identification and interpretation of the keys that lead to the initiation and consolidation of the patrimonialization process, uncovering the processes and agents through their practices, the vectors around which the process pivots, and the conflicts in the competition for land use.