Getting the public closer to the experimental facilities: How Virtual Reality helps High Energy Physics experiments engage public interest

For many High Energy Physics experiments the experimental area is difficult to access for visitors. That makes engaging the public difficult. This is true both for educational purposes and for outreach and media events. The use of the latest technologies in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and 360$^{\circ}$ degree visualization helps the experiments in getting the public closer to their research. By virtually entering the experimental area the public can visit the different facilities in an immersive and autonomous way; also, by getting closer to the detector, people can get a feeling of the size and the complexity of the experiment itself. In the following, we present different software applications developed within the ATLAS Collaboration and based on the aforementioned technologies. We also described how they have been used successfully in presentations to funding agencies and in a number of public events to educate the public about the ATLAS experiment and to generally engage the public in High Energy Physics fundamental research.