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The Ultimate Travel Guide: Tourists Go Back in Time to Discover the Ancient World
03-Aug-2009
Tourists will soon be able to go "back in time" and discover the hidden truths behind some of the world's most celebrated historical buildings and archaeological sites thanks to an "ultimate guide book" being developed by BMT Group Ltd, a British engineering consultancy and Fraunhofer IGD, a German Research Institute.
Until now foreign travellers have had to rely on old-fashioned, dog-eared guide books to find out what historical sites such as the The Acropolis in Athens, The Pyramids in Cairo and Pompei in Naples looked like thousands of years ago.
Now, they will be able to point their phone at an attraction and click on an application downloaded from the internet, which will superimpose images on the screen of paintings, lost frescoes and statues which stood there in bygone years.
The ability to overlay information on a mobile phone is known as augmented reality" and could change forever the way tourists learn about ancient sites.
BMT Group Ltd has trialled the tool - known as iTacitus - in Turin and Winchester as part of a two-year project funded by the European Union. In Turin, the Reggia di Venaria (known as the Italian Versailles) was targeted, allowing researchers to recreate a forgotten temple and restore the palace to its former glory. Inside the Great Hall in Winchester, the team overlayed images of King Arthur sitting at his Round Table with guests.
Luke Speller, a research scientist at BMT who is heading the project, said: "iTacitus gives you a chance to go back in time and see ancient Europe appear before you in the modern world.
"Have you ever passed a ruin and wondered what it looked like when it was in use, who used the building, did anything of significance happen there?
"iTacitus wishes to capitalise on this curiosity to ensure that the user has access to that information there and then, so that they get the required information before the flicker of curiosity goes out."
The tool will also suggest sites for people to visit using information gleaned from their mobile phone, so someone who has searched for the Uffizi gallery in Florence will automatically be sent information about the Accademia gallery and the best way to get there using public transport.