In the field of digital humanities, it is increasingly necessary to develop and validate virtual reality tools that are capable of combining various scientific data in a virtualized context providing also access and user friendly consultation of online repositories. This paper reports the main aspects of the implementation of a virtual reality tool integrated with an online repository for storing 3D models, metadata and chemical analyses related to different sectors of digital humanities. The virtual reality software, developed for the Oculus Quest 2 hardware, is called PROTEUS and allows for seamless transition from the macroscopic world of digital humanities to the microscopic world of molecular sciences. The paper illustrates, by means of some case studies, the performances of this innovative tool that permits the researcher to understand and manipulate objects, to test hypotheses and to seek meaningful results, visualising the metadata while changing the parameters of the simulation in a dynamic and interactive way. This represents also a significant step forward in the democratisation of science, thanks to an user-friendly and immersive access to advanced scientific algorithms, which allow the natural perception of structural and topological features of the underlying molecular and supra-molecular systems. Graphical Abstract

In the context of scientific visualization, the main challenge is to achieve a good balance between the accurate representation of scientific data (computed or stored in databases) and the visual quality of the virtual experience itself. Traditional scientific software relies on custom tools meant to be used on conventional terminals or software developed with mouse and keyboard in mind. However, the true advantage of Virtual Reality is the enhanced ability of finding connections between apparently heterogeneous information, discovering correlations that would otherwise be harder to detect. In particular, in the field of Digital Humanities, it is increasingly necessary to develop and validate virtual reality tools that are capable of combining various scientific data in a Virtual Reality context with access and consultation of online repositories. This paper reports the main aspects of the implementation of a heterogeneous relational database available online storing 3D models, metadata and chemical analyses related to different sectors of digital humanities. The Virtual Reality software, called PROTEUS, allows the user to shrink himself from the macroscopic world of Digital Humanities, down to the microscopic world of molecular sciences. The web platform is connected to the virtual reconstruction software, which dynamically loads the information available in the online repository within the virtual reality application. This application also provides a detailed explanation of the reconstruction of the 3D models for the various objects, and the chemical analyses. The real advantage of a virtual reality application is the real time interaction with data and 3D models, thus allowing the researcher to understand and manipulate objects, to test hypotheses and to seek meaningful results, visualizing the metadata while changing the parameters of the simulation in a dynamic and interactive way. This is a significant step forward in the democratization of science, by means of an user friendly and immersive access to advanced scientific algorithms, and the integration of the Proxima Molecular Perception library, which allows the automatic perception of structural and topological features of the underlying molecular and supra-molecular systems.