Book excerpt: This book reports on the latest advances in using BIM modelling to achieve the semantic enrichment of objects, allowing them to be used both as multidimensional databases – as comprehensive sources of information for finalizing various types of documentation in the building industry – and as modelling tools for the construction of virtual environments. Having advanced to a new stage of development, BIM modelling is now being applied in a range of increasingly complex contexts, and for various new purposes. This book examines the role that virtual reality and related technologies such as AI and IoT can play in preserving and disseminating our cultural heritage and built environment.