The past is all around you: Augmenting cultural heritage on-site

Abstract

Digitized cultural heritage (CH) artifacts frequently lose their original immersive and historical context when presented through traditional digital means. Situated visualization, particularly through augmented reality (AR), offers a promising avenue to reconnect artifacts with their authentic physical environments. In this work, our objective is to explore methods for designing effective AR-based visualizations to enhance user engagement and understanding in cultural heritage contexts. We share initial insights derived from literature reviews, prototyping, and preliminary evaluations focusing on prominent Austrian CH sites.