AUGMENTED REALITY FOR HISTORIC STORYTELLING AND PRESERVING ARTIFACTS IN PAKISTAN

 

Madiha Jamil

Lecturer, Applied Media, Higher Colleges of Technology, U.A.E, mjamil@hct.ac.ae

 

Abstract

Pakistan is the home of numerous ancient sites and historic structures. These historic assets are not only the likeness of the present but also heavily depends on past occurrences. The fundamental problems in preserving and maintaining historic buildings and artifacts in Pakistan are economic pressures, urban growth and often lack of coordination and planning to the world heritage sites in Pakistan. The artistic and historical value of a monument, mosaic, or an artifact ascends from the originality, and the development it represents in a specific field and in a specified time. Hence, it is vital to preserve and interpret those valuable flashes of pastime in a way that it maintains authenticity in all aspects. Despite being a part of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, unfortunately, there is not enough work come to pass for preservation and protection of historic structures. In the era where everything is digital, the latest technologies of 3D Imaging of the artifacts are contributing a lot in the preservation of the cultural assets. In such a frame, the current technology of AR provides fundamental help for preserving/ restoring purposes and as a storytelling tool to bring back the structures to its original historical value. Several possibilities that arise from (AR) tools, which combine the real world with virtual reality (VR) settings. This article attempts to illuminate augmented reality in VHS (Virtual Heritage System) and the overview of techniques that can serve as a tool for preservation and historical storytelling.

Public Interest Statement: This research explores the urgent need to preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Pakistan as most of the structure have gone through profound changes due to numerous reasons. Hence it is essential to protect and interpret those valuable flashes of a past era in a way that it maintains authenticity in all aspects. Media technology is rapidly developing with each passing day, and the modern technology of Augmented reality could offer a fundamental solution to this challenge. This article is an overview of AR techniques which can serve as a tool for preservation and historical storytelling.

Keywords: Augmented Reality, historic storytelling, Virtual heritage system, Pakistan cultural heritage