Page 169 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

EAGLE (Europeana Network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy)The EAGLE206 (Europeana Network of Ancient Greek and Latin Epigraphy) project was devised by the Europeana Network to provide a database of Greek and Latin epigraphy that would be available online. According to its website, itwill collect more than a million and a half items relating to twenty- ve EU countries as well as the east and south Mediterranean. The database will allow users to access the digitised content intuitively and features various search options and visual graphics. Since 2016, these services have included the Eagle Flagship Mobile App207 which is available from digital download plat- forms. It enables tourists to take a picture of any inscription from antiquity with a mobile device and look it up in the database, which can be consulted in situ. This makes it a very useful tool for both professionals and enthusiasts in general. EAGLE’s promotional video208 in the style of an animated comic strip with a humorous slant shows the advantages of this app for tourists.Cástulo VirtualAs part of Cástulo’s Forvm MMX Project, an augmented reality app has been developed with the collaboration of the company esTRESd Patrimonio Virtual209 on the Ibero-Roman site of Cástulo (Ja n). It allows visitors to use mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets to view virtual reconstructions of the most signi cant archaeological nds. The app,210 available since 2016 from digital platforms, comes in English and Spanish and provides a route map with informa- tion about the points of interest, which have panels with a marker that visitors need to cap- ture with their device’s camera to access the reconstructions. One of the places of interest is in a building believed to have been devoted to the cult of the Emperor Dominican ( rst century AD), all that remains of which is part of the foundations and one of the four mosaics found on the site, known as the “Mosaic of Love”. Augmented reality technology allows visitors tovisualise a virtual reconstruction of the whole building with its original decoration superim- posed onto the surviving remains in situ. Another salient feature of this tour of the site is the place where the Paten of Christ in Majesty – a Chris- tian liturgical vessel whose iconography is partially preserved – was found. Augmented reality is used to show on the device’s screen a complete virtual reconstruction – based on art-historical studies on Cástulo – overlaid on the image of the paten, and helps disseminate and add to the interest of the site.Figure 17 - Reconstruction using augmented reality of the Paten of Christ in Majesty from the Ibero-Roman site of Cástulo (Ja n). Screenshot. Source: app Cástulo VirtualThe Roman baths of l’AlbirAnother example of the important role aug- mented reality technology can play in the eld of architecture is the interactive guide for mobile devices available to visitors to the open-air museum Villa Romana de l’Albir. Some of the features of this site can be reconstructed in situ by means of virtual reconstructions based on archaeological studies. The guide was designed by Patrimonio Virtual211 and the University of Alicante in collaboration with the council of Alfaz del Pi (Alicante) and was launched in 2014. Visitors to the site are lent an iPad with infor- mation in four languages (Spanish, Valencian, English and Norwegian) to use during the tour, during which they come across a number of panels with markers indicating places of interest, such as the ancient baths. They can view on the screen an overlaid virtual reconstruction of theAC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2017169