*By Tatiana Rokou
The CirculAR augmented reality app brings Delos and other monuments to the fore with augmented reality, offering a new visit experience.
The anciently sacred island of Delos is getting a new digital “face” through the CirculAR augmented reality app, which upgrades the way visitors approach cultural heritage. The solution aims to connect the archaeological experience with modern technology, with direct interest for cultural tourism operators, tour operators and hospitality professionals looking for new ways to enhance the value of visiting monuments.
The CirculAR application was developed within the framework of the European APSIM project by the I-SENSE research group of the Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of the National Technical University of Athens, in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, the Department of History and Archaeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (University Excavation of Dion), the Epigraphic Museum of Athens and the companies GEOANALYSIS SA and Comic IKE. The project is implemented within the framework of the “Research-Create-Innovate” action of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology with co-financing from the EU.
Using a smartphone or tablet, visitors can “bring to life” the monuments of Delos in 3D, rotate them and navigate around them, creating a completely new visiting experience. Monuments such as the Temple of Apollo, the Stoa and the House of the Naxians, the Propylaea and the Lions’ Den are presented digitally, based on documented scientific content.
“We are actually bridging the imagination of today with the life of then. Through the application you don’t just see stones or foundations, you see stories, you see architecture, you see human activities. So, the application becomes a means of interpretation, understanding and an educational tool, based on scientific accuracy, and in essence transforms the ordinary citizen from a passive spectator into an active explorer. Thus, each tour becomes a discovery, navigation, knowledge gathering, interaction, connection”, Dr. Angelos Amditis, project coordinator and director of research and development at EPISEY/NTUA, tells APE/MPA.
At the same time, he emphasizes that the greatest value of the application is “that it functions as a bridge of time, transferring the past to the present and the present to the future. In this way, it helps us not only to preserve the material but also the immaterial dimension of History. To create knowledge, experience, to create a relationship between man and space”.
The application incorporates gamification and 3D modeling techniques, transforming the tour into a game of discovery. Through the device’s camera and sensors, it “reads” the natural landscape and digitally places the monuments in the exact spot where they were. “The user participates, learns and emotionally connects with the monument, transforming historical memory into a personal experience. And this is the goal, in order to creatively reconnect with the past”, notes Dr. Tina Katika, head of the XR department at I-SENSE.
Its use is not limited to Delos, as it allows for a tour of other monuments, such as the Episcopal Basilica of Dion Pieria and the Ark of Philo, with the prospect of adding more monuments in the future. The virtual reconstruction of the Ark is based on an inscription exhibited at the Epigraphic Museum of Athens.
The development of CirculAR was the result of a collaboration between experts from different fields: archaeologists, historians, computer engineers, interface designers and educators. “At the meeting of these fields, something unique was born: a common way to narrate the past with the means of the future… Thanks to this creative partnership, technology can acquire depth, history acquires a voice and our cultural heritage manages to be preserved and revived in an authentic, valid, accessible to all and experiential way”, emphasizes Mr. Amditis.
The CirculAR application is available for free for Android devices via Google Play and for iOS via the App Store.
Source: traveldailynews.gr