What Images Say/What Users See. Exploring Mobile Augmented Reality for Visual History-Telling of Architectural Heritage

Aim of the paper is the study of the potentialities offered by augmented reality visualizations of 3D models to communicate the history of architectural heritage, also for its valorization. The case study is the Basilica of Collemaggio in L’Aquila (IT). The church was the subject of a stylistic restoration that returned the building to an ideal former medieval appearance. Based on the digital survey of the current church, a 3D model of the baroque structure of the main nave, which no longer exists, is created by studying the graphic and photographic documentation of the period. An augmented reality application is developed at the University of L’Aquila, and used with the aim of visualising the 3D model to tell the story of the Basilica, so that superimposed information can be displayed dynamically and in real time. Young people aged around 20 years were asked to navigate the visualisations and then to answer a form with questions in order to evaluate the effect of computer based visualisations. The answers are analysed, and in particular it can be seen that while there is not a high level of explicit awareness of digital tools and techniques, there is clearly a habit of frequenting digital environments. Visualizations in augmented reality arouse particular interest.