Augmented Reality as a support tool to
heritage education
Carla Rimkus
Universidade Federal de Sergipe
Brazil
carlarimkus@gmail.com
In this text we present some considerations on applying the Augmented Reality technology aimed to the
architectural heritage, where we evaluated the potential application of this technology. The discussion is
made from a project developed in the Special Scientific Undergraduate Inclusion Program-PIIC, together
with the Center of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Sergipe, and takes as its object
of study the Quarteirão dos Trapiches (Fig. 1/Fig. 2), a set of historical buildings belonging to the
architectural heritage of the city of Laranjeiras, located in Sergipe, Brazil, which was adapted to house the
Laranjeiras’ Campus of the Federal University of Sergipe.
Introduction
This paper focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the historic town of Laranjeiras, located in Sergipe,
Brazil and refers to the historical evolution of the city, with the main objective of providing technical information
about the architectural heritage of the city of Laranjeiras to an audience of professionals who will develop projects
in the region, and disseminate knowledge on this heritage to the general public. Using the SketchUp software, we
built the 3D model using building photos as texture and, through the use of the ARmedia plug-in, we were able to
generate models in Augmented Reality.
Fig. 1 Campus of the Federal University of Sergipe
Fig. 2 Implementation of the Quarteirão dos Trapiches, a set of historic buildings where the Laranjeiras’ campus of
the Federal University of Sergipe is currently located
The historic city of Laranjeiras
The city of Laranjeiras undergoes a process of rehabilitation and conservation of its architectural heritage,
implemented by the Monumenta Program. This city was founded in 1605 and is the second oldest city of Sergipe,
holding an architectural heritage of inestimable historical value.
This urban and architectural ensemble that congregates a historical past of the colonial period, and at
certain times of the Brazilian neo-classicism and eclecticism, tells the history of a city that holds traces of the
Brazilian cultural wealth, which is classified as one of the most important architectural heritage of the Brazil,
heritage listed by IPHAN; nevertheless, despite its importance, we could verify the lack of technical documentation
regarding most of this heritage, particularly important at the moment as the city of Laranjeiras currently undergoes a
process of rehabilitation and conservation of its architectural heritage, coordinated by the Monumenta program, the
National Artistic Historical Patrimony Institute -IPHAN and the Laranjeiras’ City Administration.
Laranjeiras and its touristic historical potential
The touristic potential of the city of Laranjeiras, traditionally described as an “open air museum” is already
consolidated by the constant presence of visitors coming to the city, searching for facts on its architectural heritage,
a vestige of the past, when the city owned the status of being the biggest shopping center of the state of Sergipe, due
to the sugar production flow through its port.
The city that experienced a period of glory, driven by the economic progress, also experienced a long
period of economic stagnation, and only recently has it experienced a process of revitalization and restoration. Most
of the buildings of historical interest in the city are relatively well preserved, but a significant number of these
buildings are in an advanced state of deterioration caused by time (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 - Photo by Eliton Siqueira
In this context, one of the challenges of the rehabilitation policies of historic sites is to make them, once
again, producers of economic alternatives and, in that sense, going against the sustainable preservation of the
architectural heritage’s policies and under the agreement established between the Laranjeiras’ City Hall and the
Federal University of Sergipe, this research is developed focusing on the digital reconstruction of the city through
the use of the Augmented Reality technology, in order to set up a technical collection that will be available on the
Internet for the general public and to a specialized audience composed of architects, archaeologists, museologists
and professionals of related areas.
Augmented Reality permeating the historical process
New techniques for visualization and interaction in computing environments are increasingly being used as
academic and commercial tools, with highly satisfactory results. The Augmented Reality technology combines the
real environment with the virtual one in a real time interaction, via icons recognized by a webcam, which facilitates
and enhances the user interactivity. According to Zuffo (Zuffo et al., 2009), “in the last 50 years, several simulation
and visualization technologies have been developed enabling the creation of immersive and semi- immersive
environments. The set of methodologies and technologies for creating fully immersive interactive environments is
called Virtual Reality (VR)”.
This technology has been presenting continuous and increasing applications in different knowledge areas
such as medicine, gaming and entertainment, education, aircraft simulation and training, teleconference (virtual
human presence) and architecture and urbanism, with interaction and immersion in architectural spaces and
thousands of other applications.
The use of digital technologies in the preservation and restoration of the architectural heritage area has
presented successful experiences in various countries and with low implementation cost. These technologies
generate new ways of building and sharing the produced knowledge and open new possibilities that point out to new
ways of relating to the material culture. In this way of relating to the heritage, it is worth investigating and
categorizing the types and levels of possible interaction that the computer technologies provoke.
Assuming that the technological mediation fits well the needs of the organization of the architectural
heritage technical documentation, we have decided to use it in order to enlarge the technical basis related to such
heritage, as well as for the propagation of this heritage. Thus we used 3D modeling technical resources and graphic
tours organized within a virtual environment that will be available on the web, which should fill the gap that is
currently presented as a base of consistent technical information concerning the previously mentioned architectural
heritage, along with the organs responsible for the preservation and rehabilitation of this heritage.
Cultural institutions around the world have increasingly used computational technological resources, which
also generates a demand for analysis and evaluations of the aspects of such use, in order to provide a more adequate
use of these resources.
Why use Augmented Reality technology in Architectural Heritage?
As Augmented Reality allows the virtual world to be mixed with the real world, and enables greater
interaction, it opens a new dimension regarding the way we perform tasks and in this sense this technology reveals a
wide possibility of applications in different areas of knowledge and among these, the Architecture and Urbanism.
The AR technology reveals itself as being potentially suitable for applications concerning the architectural heritage
due to its possibility of combining virtual elements with the real environment, which enables interactivity with realtime processing in the manipulation of images and representations of the project, as can be seen in the picture below
(Fig. 4).
Fig. 4 – Augmented Reality model
where a building of the historic city of Laranjeiras is viewed with Augmented Reality. The building was
modeled, received photography texture of its facades pretreated with Photoshop and using a marker it was viewed in
Augmented Reality. In real-time interaction, the image of the building is identified by the software via a webcam
and the virtual object that can be seen in this image is generated.
Augmented reality enables viewing the building, and understanding its uses and functions over time and
also to understand its interaction with the urban environment in which it is inserted. This way, the virtual 3D model
can stimulate further studies and debates on the history and the urban culture, as well as complementing the existing
documentary collections and the new treatment, management and information providing tools to both researchers
and the general public.
Augmented Reality technologies are already being used in various knowledge areas, but in the Architecture
and Urbanism field its use is still superficial despite its enormous application potential.
In the context of architectural heritage, we could say that the Augmented Reality technology enables
possibilities for application in the whole urban space and in this case, the Augmented Reality could be aggregated to
the mobile computing technology in mobile phones equipped with online connection and when the mobile phone
camera device is directed to an AR marker, such elements are replaced by 3D graphics. The idea is that tourists who
visit the city of Laranjeiras find “markers” in the main historical buildings of the city, or in services such as
restaurants, and through his/her mobile phone, have access to information about the cultural heritage of the city. So
this visitation would be enhanced by information about the visited places with access to a vast amount of
information.
Another deployment of the possibilities of application of AR would be the development of digital markers,
available on the Internet, according to parameters of wiki logic.
Manipulation of virtual prototypes
Virtual prototypes can be easily handled by potential users with the use of Tangible Augmented Reality in
the architectural heritage area, since it uses interfaces to display information related to the building stimulating real
time interactivity with the user.
Augmented Reality seems entirely appropriate as a way to expand the technical basis for interventions in
architectural goods and sites aimed at propagating the material heritage, arranged in a virtual environment. It
provides a user experience with the space and helps to raise the awareness of these users so they can recognize the
importance of the heritage, learn to respect and help preserve it, as they realize their responsibility for the
appreciation and preservation of the heritage.
Image by: Victor Francisco de Souza
Laranjeiras’ historic buildings were virtually rebuilt and, thenceforth, walkthroughs were elaborated
How does Augmented Reality work?
Zuffo et al. calls the integration between the reality and the continuous virtuality and thus the set of
methodologies and technologies for creating semi-immersive interactive environments augmented reality (AR) and
described according to the following diagram:
Image – Zuffo et al. pg. 2
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality environments in the Preservation of the
Historical Heritage
Basically, Augmented Reality comprises 3 components:
Real object with a reference
Camera or device capable of sending the image
of this object
Software capable of interpreting the signal
emitted by the camera or device
Virtual Object Formation Process
The real object is placed in front of the camera so the
camera captures its image and send it to the equipment
that will interpret the image
The camera "sees" the object and sends the images, in real
time, to the software that will generate the virtual object
The software will be already programmed to return a
determined virtual object, depending on the real object
that is shown to the camera
The output device (could be a television or a computer
monitor) displays the virtual object superimposed on the
real object, as if they were only one object.
Methodology
The set of buildings known as Quarteirão dos Trapiches, expressive building of historical interest in the city
of Laranjeiras, will be our object of study, due to the fact that it brings together features that qualify it as a prime and
representative example of the architectural heritage of the city of Laranjeiras, regarding its formal, historiographical
and interventional procedures characteristics.
We will use Augmented Reality as a support tool for the three-dimensional visualization of the set of
historic buildings known as Quarteirão dos Trapiches through markers.
In this research on this historic building we will link interdisciplinary activities of research and teaching, to
the Architecture and Urbanism and Computing courses of the Federal University of Sergipe.
Through this case study, we intend to collaborate to the development of methodological procedures that
systematize information regarding the city’s heritage, using
Image by: Eliton Siqueira
Laranjeiras’ historic buildings had their facades photographed and manipulated in Photoshop in order to be
later applied in three-dimensional models as texture to be finally viewed in augmented reality through markers
We are going to use the following resources in this research:
•
Commom Web Cam
•
Adobe Flash
•
Flartoolkit
•
ArToolkit Maker Generator
•
Sketchup
•
Armedia
•
Final Cut
Conclusions
Although Augmented Reality technologies have already been developed and have been successfully
implemented in various knowledge areas, its application in Architecture is still little. Nevertheless, its use has
increasingly developed and consolidated in architectonic patrimony research.
It is envisioned that the technological progress and its popularization will enable economies of scale and,
subsequently, the spread in the technical environment as a powerful daily support tool for professionals working in
the architectural heritage area, considerably expanding the educational applications potential.
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