Kulturarvsapplikation: skapandet av en Augmented Reality-rekonstruktion av en medeltida kyrkas exteriör

Abstract

St. Olav’s Path is a unique cultural route in Sweden with sixteen medieval churches located along it, including nine that are ruined or fully destroyed. This report outlines the creation of an iPad application prototype, aiming to provide historical information about the medieval churches located along the path and 3D reconstructions of their exteriors, along with a brief introduction to the St. Olav’s cult and the history of the pilgrim trail. As an example for the presentation of a lost church, the Undersåker church ruin was chosen. In the application, one can view a 3D interpretation of the church exterior in AR from two different points in time: the 14th century, when the church was most likely built, and the 19th century, when it was abandoned. This paper describes my research process, including the technical and methodological difficulties that I encountered while working on the project, as well as my strategies for overcoming them. It also includes reflections on the topic of creating a digital reconstruction of a ruined church exterior. The result of the work revealed the problematic nature of the interpretation process and the insufficient development of AR technology to create an in situ scene in landscape conditions with exact virtual model placement.