  VR/AR technology is a key enabler for new ways of immersively experiencing
cultural heritage artifacts based on their virtual counterparts obtained from a
digitization process. In this paper, we focus on enriching VR-based object
inspection by additional haptic feedback, thereby creating tangible cultural
heritage experiences. For this purpose, we present an approach for interactive
and collaborative VR-based object inspection and annotation. Our system
supports high-quality 3D models with accurate reflectance characteristics while
additionally providing haptic feedback regarding the object shape features
based on a 3D printed replica. The digital object model in terms of a printable
representation of the geometry as well as reflectance characteristics are
stored in a compact and streamable representation on a central server, which
streams the data to remotely connected users/clients. The latter can jointly
perform an interactive inspection of the object in VR with additional haptic
feedback through the 3D printed replica. Evaluations regarding system
performance, visual quality of the considered models as well as insights from a
user study indicate an improved interaction, assessment and experience of the
considered objects.
