Augmented reality in the dynamic world of virtual tourism

Abstract

Abstract The issue of virtual tourism penetrates the consciousness of many current explorers and visitors to interesting sites and local attractions. Is it really necessary to physically travel to the chosen location, sacrifice time, money and increase your carbon footprint? The article deals with the issue of creating an application using augmented reality for the presentation of 3D models of cultural monuments. The application is designed for mobile devices, on which museum visitors can view digital copies of selected objects of interest. They can also take a virtual tour of the museum through their mobile devices from the comfort of their home. The introductory part of the article describes surveying of shape and visual properties in situ using photogrammetry and laser scanning. The sequent chapters are an analysis of the creation of 3D models in real scale with photorealistic textures and their presentation in a mixed reality environment. In our case, we will specifically focus on the augmented reality application and its development in the Unity multiplatform game engine. The article aims to describe the development of a mobile marker-based AR application briefly, to demonstrate the possibilities of augmented reality and to indicate the potential benefits resulting from the integration of X-reality into our lives. Specifically, we will focus on the application of AR to cartographic works and the enrichment of the content of classical 2D map works and plans with virtually designed 3D models on their surface.