One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was described as in the quotation above when it was first nominated as one by Antipater of Sidon around 140 BC. The grandiose beauty that it was told to possess, is hidden from the sight today, because there is not much to see in its archaeological site, except for the ruins. Deterioration of the tangible evidences of a cultural heritage and the changes in its integrity in time compromise not only its visibility, but also its presence in collective memory. Information boards, three-dimensional models or audio-visual narratives have long been used in order to make the memory of the unseen persist in these sites, however, most of these methods fall short to provide the visitors with a complete spatial experience, and thus remembering. In some cases, like the Temple of Artemis, the tangible presence of the heritage in the site of memory vanishes almost completely, turning in to a withered memory of its glorious history for the public. Augmented Reality (AR) applications have come to the forefront as a very important environment in closing this gap in recent years and many academic studies have been carried out in this field.
“But when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand”
Antipater of Sidon, circa 140 BC, from Greek Anthology (Paton, 1916, 9:58).
This project focuses on Augmented Reality (AR) applications created for the sites of memory in order to reveal the unseen cultural heritage. Deterioration of the tangible evidences of an architectural heritage in sites of memory compromises not only the visibility of the heritage, but also its presence in collective memory.
With the convergence of physically visible features of the heritage and digitally created appearances of the unseen in AR applications, not only personal memory of the visitor but also collective memory of the local community is rooted in the site of memory. However, what one remembers in these converged environments immensely depends on the modes of digital representation of the vanished heritage.
[AR]temis research project will be exploring the effects different modes of representation on remembering in the case of the Temple of Artemis.
As a team, we decided to keep the locus on the screen as much as it is experienced in the present as possible in order not to detach the visitor from the actual site of the heritage. For that, the borders between the image and locus should be defined clearly. We also decided to develop the app for mobile devices rather than head-mounted-displays to not to detach the user from the actual locus. In the app, there will be an option for the interweaves to choose among three different types of image representation; (1) image rendered with texture and material, (2) monochromatic surfaced image with 3D modeled architectural details, (3) 3D outlined detailed image with no surface. The analysis of these qualities, which will be used in [AR]temis application in order to evaluate the effects of these modes on the visitors’ remembering, will provide insights into future applications.
