Augmented Reality for the

Enhancement

of Apulian Archaeological Areas

Carola Gatto - Università del Salento

Who we are

We are members of AVR Lab team, a research laboratory of the Dept. of Engineering for Innovation of the University of Salento. Our research activities are mainly focused on Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies in:

➢ Cultural Heritage

➢ Medicine and Surgery

➢ Marketing

Cultural Heritage ICT

Our researches focus on: ● the possibilities to combine ICT technologies with human sciences ● how to improve user fruition in terms of experience and learning ● how to achieve higher results in terms of audience development

• Digital Agenda for Europe

• Commission Recommendation on digitisation and online accessibility and digital preservation of cultural material (2011/711/EU)

• EU Work Plan for Culture (2015-2018) • New Agenda for Culture (2018) • Horizon 2020 • Interreg Med

Digitisation turns Europe’s cultural resources into an important pillar of the digital economy. Moreover, it gives Europe’s rich cultural heritage a clear profile on the Internet, promotes regions, protects cultural diversity and contributes to better quality of life!

In Europe

Digital services in numbers

*In 2016 the Osservatorio Innovazione Digitale nei Beni e Attività Culturali, promoted by the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic, conducted an

analysis on a sample of museums.

In Italy:

● 14% of museums provides proximity

services

● 13% of museums provide a virtual

tour

● 9% of museums provides app

services

Identifying technologies used in

Cultural Heritage Ruth Owen, Dimitrios Buhalis and Daniël Pletinckx School of Management, University of Surrey, UK 2004

Cultural Heritage & ICT

What about AR and VR

Augmented Reality:

Real-world is "augmented"

by computer-generated

perceptual information

Virtual Reality:

is an immersive experience

also called a

computer-simulated reality.

Indoor Outdoor museums, schools, churches, etc. .

Identifying technologies by location

archeological sites, squares, monuments or

buildings surface, etc. .

“ArtLens 2.0”, CLeveland Museum of Art - 2016 “Ara com’era”, Rome - 2016

Brixia Time Machine, Brescia - 2016

Our Application: AR for archaeological sites

The aim

We want to create a model that

can convey accurate

information about indigenous

population of Apulia region, in

order to stimulate the user's

interest and encourage

learning.

In an archaeological context the "absent" is often what has to be told, what can be

reconstructed through some trails, but not fully visible!

The best answer to this needs comes from

Augmented Reality Technology (AR)

Strategy

● Provide visitors with a mobile

application, based on Augmented

Reality technology

● Installing orthographic pictures of the

archaeological dig within the museum

● This approach allows users to visualize the

3D reconstruction of the archaeological

buildings and artefacts that no longer exist

● Simply by focusing on a planimetric map (by

means of the mobile camera), 3D models

are superimposed over it.

Case of studies

Castello di Alceste, San Vito dei Normanni (BR) Fondo Giuliano, Vaste (LE)

Technology

The AR application is based on Vuforia and Unity3D, which are an augmented reality framework and a

cross-platform game engine respectively. The integration of these two platforms allows an easy

deployment of the applications.

3D Models

Each model has been realised thanks to the collaboration with the Department of Archaeology of University of Salento. After the historical consult we have passed to:

1) Design and model

2) Test

3) Optimize

Cinema 4D - Unity

Tracking system

Vuforia is a software platform that

recognized 2D target (Image Target) in a

markerless system, but also 3D objects

(Object Target) and Multi-Target.

Phantom DJI - Photoshop - Vuforia

Vuforia Target Manager allows to:

● detect features over the target

● evaluate the target

● store the target in a cloud

database

Overlapping of the 3D models Unity

● Registration of 3D model ● Detection and recognition of the features when the camera focuses

on the target ● Overlapping of the 3D models

Results

Conclusions and future work

Future work includes: o Integration of other archeological

sites for creating a wider network of people, cultural assets and places;

o Development of a tool able to provide on-site fruition without using the image target, for a more engaging experience.

Thanks for your attention!

Carola Gatto – Università del Salento