ARCHEOGUIDE: First results of an augmented reality, mobile computing system in cultural heritage sites

This paper presents the ARCHEOGUIDE project(Augmented Reality-based Cultural Heritage On-siteGUIDE). ARCHEOGUIDE is an IST project, funded bythe EU, aiming at providing a personalized electronicguide and tour assistant to cultural site visitors. Thesystem provides on-site help and Augmented Realityreconstructions of ancient ruins, based on user'sposition and orientation in the cultural site, and realtimeimage rendering. It incorporates a multimediadatabase of cultural material for on-line access tocultural data, virtual visits, and restoration information.It uses multi-modal user interfaces and personalizes theflow of information to its user's profile in order to caterfor both professional and recreational users, and forapplications ranging from archaeological research, toeducation, multimedia publishing, and cultural tourism.This paper presents the ARCHEOGUIDE system andthe experiences gained from the evaluation of an initialprototype by representative user groups at thearcheological site of Olympia, Greece.