Page 168 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

168of our smartphone or tablet can display an imag- ine combining the heritage site or object with overlaid information or virtual reconstructions in order to complement our perception of it (unlike recreations of heritage using virtual reality).This feature has spurred the application of this technology in the heritage sector in the form of apps that use di erent techniques such as recog- nition of markers, geolocation or visual mapping (through the recognition of natural features) to visually combine real images with information or virtual 3D models of heritage.The following cases have been chosen to repre- sent the latest applications of this technology in the heritage eld which provide visitors with a fuller image of reality through the incorporation of virtual content that recreates an enhanced view of the cultural asset in question.eARt2015 saw the presentation of eARt, an aug- mented reality app203 for mobile devices that allows users to view the cave paintings of East- ern Spain more clearly by means of overlaid HD digital pictographs. The coastal region of Eastern Spain has a large number of caves containing paintings, among them 757 sites designated as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1998. A Spanish company, Cineproad,204 was hired to design this app, which is a fundamental part of the guided tour of three sites: the cave of la Ermita in Ulldecona (Tarragona), that of Las Covas de la Saltadora in Les Coves de Vinromá (Castellón de la Plana) and the Cova Centelles in Albocàsser (Castellón de la Plana).The importance of this application lies in the di culty of interpreting the features depicted in these cave paintings, as most of them are incom- plete. Thanks to augmented reality technology, visitors who use the app can point their mobile device’s camera at the cave painting and the outlines of these paintings will instantly appear (using visual mapping techniques), allowing themto appreciate the complete image. Additional information is provided (in Spanish, Catalan and English), as well as full technical speci cations, a map of the location and the history of eachof the caves, thereby disseminating the studies carried out on them to date.Taula appThe objectives of the Menorca Talayótica 3.0 project include this augmented reality app205 that is designed to enhance the experienceof visitors to the Talaiotic settlement of Torre Trencada (Menorca). This archaeological siteon the abovementioned Balearic Island has a Talaiotic settlement that is highly signi cant,as it includes several constructions that tell us about this Iron Age culture. It is particularly notable for the presence of the local type of taulas (stone monuments) with a side column as reinforcement.Visitors who use the app can consult a map of the site showing the points of interest with multimedia information in several languages (Catalan, Spanish, English and German) on who the Talaiotic people were, how they lived, andin what period of history they inhabited the island, among other facts. The visitor experience, enhanced with the augmented reality content that appears on users’ mobile devices, is notable for its interpretation of the archaeological remains, as visitors are shown how this early society and the monuments found on the site functioned through augmented images. Virtual reconstructions of the surviving structures are overlaid to provide the best possible idea of what they would have once looked like, and animated characters show visitors what the local inhabitants were like in their original context. The objects found at each site are also shown virtually, along with the arti cial burial cave, the so-called hypostyle hall and the anthropomor- phic tombs dug out of the rock.2. DISSEMINATION, ENHANCEMENT AND EDUCATIONThe use of digital technologies in the conservation, analysis and dissemination of cultural heritage