This contribution describes the first developing phases of a tool aimed to support field training ses-sions in topographic survey learning courses. After describing the issue that justifys the proposal of the research, a discussion of similar approaches carried out by researcher from different countries is shown. Thenceforth, the concept and description of the proposed gamified simulator are explained. Finally, the future features and scopes of the research are presented.
Architectural Maquette. From Digital Fabrication to AR Experiences
With this paper, the authors want to reflect on how, in the age of the immaterial, a plastic model is a tool still current in the representation and able to connect with the new digital tools of augmented reality (AR). In this context, we would like to present a practical case concerning the realization of two static scale models, realized through Digital Fabrication technologies, aiming to increase the accessibil-ity to knowledge about the architectural project in an exhibition context.The final goal of this work is to develop a methodology that allows the user to obtain information about the architectural project not only through the real model but also through static and dynamic virtual models overlaid using the current AR technologies. In particular, the following tools were used for tracking: Unity®, a multiplatform graphics engine, and Vuforia®, an augmented reality software development kit.
Scan-To-Ar: from Reality-Capture to Participatory Design Supported by AR
This contribution presents state-of-the-art methods in 3D scanning and augmented reality for pub-lic-inclusive architectural programmes through rapid survey, accessible design tooling, and immersive visualisation outcomes. It follows an application case in Cantieri Culturali della Zisa, Palermo, part of a co-design workshop called Everyday Experiences and Heritage in South European Cities: Digital Tools and Practises, which invited architects, urban theorists, and local stakeholders to explore public-oriented reclamations of industrial-cultural-heritage sites. This contribution illustrates the benefits of pedestri-an-operated 3D structure-from-motion survey for historic urban scenarios and details WikAR; a cloud-based augmented reality app modified for accessible proposal creation and visualisation.
Connecting AR and BIM:a Prototype App
This contribution discusses an ongoing project integrating information modeling and immersive tech-nologies for the built space, in particular augmented reality (AR). We examined tools and procedures to quickly recognize the equipment present on telecommunication network sites and access the cor-responding components on a digital information model. A first phase of the project, recently complet-ed, produced an app prototype for mobile devices capable of showing a 1:1 scale AR representation on-site. The project highlights current limitations and opportunities in making the interaction between AR and building information modeling (BIM) technologies fully scalable.
Virtual and Interactive Realityin Zaha Hadid’s Vitra Fire Station
The aim of the research was to analyze the project by Zaha Hadid’s Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein using advanced and interactive representation. Built between 1990 and 1993, today the building is a space for temporary exhibitions. We choose it to understand its morphological complexity and to experiment some different interaction systems. To increase the credibility of the virtual environment, we applied seamless textures from photographs samples during the surveys to the 3D model. The Virtual Reality (VR) exploration includes the external context and the building interiors, where we have inserted textual and manual interactions of some works preserved in the exhibition area. We generated two levels of interaction of the scene: with keyboard and VR headset. These two ways allow users to navigate both using hands and walking around.
AR to Enhance and Raise Awareness of Inaccessible Archaeological Areas
This paper shows a research experience interested in exploring the potential of XR systems for the use and dissemination of knowledge about the architectural Heritage and, in particular, about those areas that are currently inaccessible. Specifically, the methodological approach adopted employs AR as a user friendly tool that, through the involvement of the user in experiences implemented by multi-media content, allows to highlight unexplored aspects of the Heritage.The experimentation carried out involved part of the Insula Episcopalis of Naples, investigating the relationship between the Basilica of Santa Restituta and the archaeological area below. To this end, the instrumental surveys carried out to understand the relationships that exist between the different parts of the Insula, were of support for the construction of the communication project, constituting in fact the reference model on which the tracking of the scene and the anchoring of the different information was based.
The Rooms of Art. The Virtual Museum as an Anticipation of Reality
In this essay we propose a methodological approach for the realization of a virtual expositive space in which converge on one hand the results of a scientific research based on the study of author’s paintings whose contribution has embellished the Venetian territory, and on the other hand a strategy based on a credible interactive proposal for the users, for a creative fruition able to involve emotion-ally the observer and facilitating at the same time the learning.
Enhanced Interaction Experience for Holographic Visualization
Nowadays, holographic visualization pushes further the limits in exploring tri-dimensional digital con-tent. 3D models typically displayed through a computer screen now enter the real world as holograms. The Hologram Table allows users to visualize and manipulate huge 3D models as if they were in the space in front of them. Its use has already proved helpful for the virtual fruition and presentation of complex cultural heritage buildings and their design interventions, but it surely can do more. The work aims at exploring the possibility of expanding the capabilities of the Hologram Table interaction by developing a custom-designed experience to interact with 3D point cloud data coming from survey activity. The test case was the interesting building of the Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan, Italy) basilica. Initial results are encouraging and show that the point model can be enriched with associated informa-tion and additional content (images and texts) available for holographic visualization.
Virtual Reality in Future Museums
The current global situation underlined the necessity of new accessibility standards in the field of cultural dissemination. Due to the limitations defined to contain the pandemic, the process of digitalization of art and knowledge increased its speed, exploiting practices and technologies which once were commonly used in specific sectors. In this climate of fervent developments, the use of Virtual Reality is growing as a medium to convey information, working on themes like immersivity, interactivity and simulation, and considering the previous experimentations in cinematography and videogames, to define experiences which connect sensory perception, engagement and learning. The faithful reconstruction of the Pavilion 2B of the ex Mattatoio di Testaccio in Rome aims to create a virtual environment to be used for digital exhibitions by students and visitors, working on innovative tools to convey art and culture.
Virtual Canova: a Digital Exhibition Across MANN and Hermitage Museums
The paper presents the results of a scientific collaboration between the Interdepartmental Research Center Urban/Eco of the University of Naples Federico II and the MANN (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, National Archaeological Museum of Naples).The research activity was aimed to the digitisation, design, and development of an AR/VR-powered narrative experience regarding Antonio Canova’s statuary that is currently exhibited at the MANN, loaned by the Hermitage in St. Petersburg: Cupid, Hebe, Dancer, Cupid and Psyche, the Genius of Death and The Three Graces.The project is motivated by the will to realize an active example of a digital museum, where cultural and formative experiences related to the fruition of architectural and artistic artifacts can be relived over time, even when manufacts are not physically and/or temporally located in the space where the experience takes place.