Historic Scotland and partner bodies in Germany have collaborated to produce an interactive map that will help visitors explore the Antonine Wall.
The cutting-edge app uses augmented reality to bring the World Heritage Site to life and help visitors understand how it would have looked when it was operational. Built by the Romans in 142 AD, the Wall once stretched right across Central Scotland and marked the north-west frontier of their territory.
This project was made possible with the generous collaboration of the Bavarian Savings Bank Foundation and the Bavarian museums service who had already designed a similar app in Germany. Theirs had been created to allow visitors to access information on two parts of the Roman frontier in Bavaria. It was this existing technology that provided the platform for the Antonine Wall app.
The agreement was signed at Edinburgh Caslte where Barbara Cummins, Director of Heritage Management at Historic Scotland, said: “Signing this agreement is a significant step forward, not just in digitally interpreting the Antonine Wall, but in fostering strong working partnerships with international colleagues. We are grateful to our colleagues in Germany for generously allowing us to use the technology they have developed, and look forward to further collaboration in the future.”
In order to create as accurate a reconstruction as possible, the app will utilise 3D laser scanning work carried out by the Scottish Ten Project, as well as new scans and interactive 3D models of museum artefacts taken from the Wall.
Dr Ingo Krueger, Executive Member of the Board at the Bavarian Savings Bank Foundation said he was very pleased that the technical platform jointly developed with the Landesstelle für die nichtstaatlichen Museen in Bayern would receive international recognition: “A holistical interpretation system for the world heritage Roman Borders would be a great goal in European cultural cooperation."
Dr Christof Fluegel of the Non-Governmental Museums, Bavaria added: “We highly appreciate this new collaboration with Historic Scotland to enhance an attractive interpretation approach for our common World Heritage.”
Version 1 of the Antonine Wall app will be released for both i-phone and Android by April 2016.
Image shows virtual reconstruction of Bar Hill Roman Fort, modelled using aerial and terrestrial laser scan data with input from a panel of archaeology experts. © Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation LLP
