Augmented experiences in archeological sites: Presentation of Alexandria Troas Podium Temple to visitor experience

Abstract

Set aside the issues concerning their excavation, documentation, and conservation, as far as their presentation to the public experience is concerned, Archaeological sites represent a special case of cultural heritage that come with distinctive set of conditions and demands, posing a problem situation deserving a special treatment. Problem is manifold: The presentation should be informative, entertaining, and educational, all accomplished through an active corporeal and mental participation where interactivity and immersion must be the key. The setting must provide a holistic, comprehensible experience by completing “missing parts and layers,” and contextualizing it, perhaps through a story, a theme, or a background. Any intervention must be non-invasive, reversible and updateable; alternatives and different layers must be presented, preferably, synchronously. Above all, final setting should be subordinate to the primacies of “conservation of cultural heritage,” while providing an intellectually and physically accessible and sustainable overall historical environment. This has been an age-old issue for the scholars, a genuine challenge due to the ill-defined nature of the problem situation itself. The present study departs from the proposition that, Augmented Reality(AR), by definition, has a potential to contribute to such a problem situation. AR is a combination of real and virtual worlds, where “virtual” could complement what was missing in the real and new objects and layers might be woven together, into one new reality where active bodily and mental participation and interaction is possible. Though it might seem implied in the definition, the proposition still needs a rigorous investigation since AR is a rapidly emerging but still quite a young field that has a long way to go; and since, research on AR’s specific adoption to presentation of archaeological sites, apart from few examples, is still an unbeaten path. The present multidisciplinary study aims to take a step towards such an investigation. Established upon a detailed investigation and analysis of examples, the present study involves development of an AR application of a selected case: “Alexandria Troas Podium Temple,” followed by a field study. In the present report, we share our experience and observations of the process and the implementation. In conclusion, we propose that AR is a serious candidate to be a considerable asset for the presentation of archaeological sites for the visitor experience, without compromising the universal norms of conservation of cultural heritage. We also argue that AR seems to have its own agenda, coming with unprecedented possibilities still to be appreciated and adopted, which in turn might help us to go beyond the conventional conceptions and modes of conservation of cultural heritage and presentation.

La Realidad Aumentada como herramienta turística. Caso de estudio de la aplicación CulturAR de Priego de Córdoba

“…Finalmente, se tomará como ejemplo el trabajo de Expósito- Barea et al (2022) donde se describe y analiza una app a través de sus especificaciones técnicas, la descripción de la aplicación y su funcionalidad, así como las publicaciones en las que se basa esta investigación sobre aplicaciones de Realidad Aumentada (Rosas et al, 2014;Anay et al, 2022;Muñoz-Sajama et al, 2018;VujoviĆ, RadenoviĆ y VujoviĆ, 2021;Calzado, 2020;Yung y Khoo-Lattimore, 2019). Además, entre los materiales recogidos para elaborar la investigación, contaremos con entrevistas y documentos aportados por la Oficina de Turismo de Priego de Córdoba y de Fernando J. Quesada Vílchez, socio y CMO (director de marketing) de la compañía AR Vision, empresa encargada de la realización de la aplicación analizada.…”

Augmented Reality for the Presentation of Cultural Heritage: On-Site Application and Evaluation of a Model

“…As it was already stated in the introduction, among its multidisciplinary proliferations, studies concerning Augmented Reality's adoption for the (re)presentation of cultural heritage, particularly for historical built environments and archeological sites, presents us a special case. This is since, AR almost by definition is tailored to fit to address much of the problem(atics) coming along with norms and privileges of historical preservation and conservation of cultural heritage while providing a potential for a compatible, accessible, and sustainable presentation of these assets to public experience (Anay, Özten, Ünal, & Öztepe, 2022), (Cannella, 2019). It is no surprise to see that, almost from its onset, parallel to the studies in AR in general, researchers have been working on AR's specific employment towards this end, and there is a considerable literature stacking up, especially in recent years.…”

“…Its departure point is the proposition that "AR, almost by definition, is tailored to fit to provide a compatible, accessible, and sustainable presentation of historical built environments and archaeological sites to public experience, while respecting much of the problem(atics) coming along with norms and privileges of preservation and conservation." (Anay, Özten, Ünal, & Öztepe, 2022). The study concerns development of an AR model for the presentation of a cultural heritage, namely the archaeological site of Alexandria Troas, for the visitor experience, followed by on-site application of this model, through a case, namely the Podium (or Forum) Temple, to investigate the nature of that experience provided by AR and its implications.…”

“…In all of its original (and followed by) conceptions, AR is deemed as essentially "distinct" and "different" from VR, in the sense that it requires bodily experience and movement as a part of the equation, and also that it demands both the "real," and the "virtual," weaved together to constitute a new reality (Anay, Özten, Ünal, & Öztepe, 2022). As compared to VR, in AR, total "immersion" in virtual and total "detachment" from the real is not a sine qua non.…”

El proyecto Scipio: realidad aumentada en el conjunto arqueológico de Itálica

“…Otros casos significativos son las reconstrucciones virtuales o en Realidad Aumentada de la ciudad ibérica de Ullastret (Codina et al, 2017), la intervención arqueológica de la Cova del Barranc del Migdia en la sierra del Montgó en Xàbia (Alicante) (Esclapés et al, 2013) o las experiencias realizadas en el yacimiento de Empúries, en Cataluña (Calzado, 2020). Anay et al (2022) toman como estudio de caso el software de Realidad Aumentada diseñado sobre el Templo de Podio en las ruinas de Alejandría de Tróade (Turquía) y concluyen que la Realidad Aumentada debe ser considerada un activo considerable para la presentación de sitios arqueológicos ante la experiencia del visitante, sin tener que comprometer las normas universales de conservación del patrimonio cultural. Banfi, Brumana y Stanga (2019) documentan el proceso de modelado y levantamiento topográfico tridimensional de la Basílica de Sant'Ambrogio en Milán con objeto de producir una herramienta de experiencia de realidad extendida y destacan la amplia cantidad de datos necesaria, el enfoque holístico de la producción y la necesidad de trabajo interdisciplinar entre los sectores involucrados.…”