Disclosing Documentary Archives: AR interfaces to recall missing urban scenery

This paper describes the current results of a research project whose goal is to create a mobile Application aimed at the use of the Cultural Heritage stored at the Documentary Archives of Ascoli Piceno, Italy. The application core is based on the visualization of multimedia content in Augmented Reality mode. The application shows the realistic and digitally rendered scenarios of virtual restoring vision of the places “as they were and where they were” in order to communicate the historical value of the heritage preserved in the Documentary Archives; it prioritizes the visualization of the 3D reconstructions of architectural heritage based on Archival Resources. Moreover, the 3D models become interfaces to access different associated 2D content connected generating a cascading system, structured on hierarchical information. This App, defining a technological framework mainly based on Open Source systems, aims to offer an expandable and repeatable "open data" experience of Cultural Heritage, to make available and accessible “hidden” information.