Immerse yourself in the life of the Roman town of Augusta Raurica with AR

The Roman city Augusta Raurica is breaking new ground in history education with an augmented reality exhibition. From 7 May 2022, visitors will have even better access to the archaeological sites at Kaiseraugst by means of a radio play smartphone app. The project, which is unique in Switzerland, was made possible by the cantons of Aargau and Basel-Landschaft and the Federal Office of Culture (FOC).

The new exhibition "Augusta Raurica AR Experience" tells the story of the former Roman industrial buildings on the territory of the Aargau municipality of Kaiseraugst in an interactive tour that is unique in Switzerland. Using their own smartphone and an augmented reality app with radio play, visitors immerse themselves in everyday life 1700 years ago and experience the last hours of the inhabitants before the catastrophic fire. In this way, a broad public will gain access to Roman history in a new and emotional way.

Technically and archaeologically up to date

The Roman house god "Lar", resurrected from the ruins of the commercial buildings, accompanies the visitors with his narrative through the various rooms. At the same time, 3D visualisations are projected into the visible archaeological ruins. They provide an insight into the original room furnishings and the Roman way of life. Thanks to a new AR technology, visitors can move around with the app free of fixed anchor points.

The radio play and the visualisations are fictitious. Nevertheless, the content is based on the latest research. The visualisations of furniture and other objects are based on finds in Augusta Raurica. Items of clothing, on the other hand, are largely based on findings from other sites or on pictorial representations from Roman times.

Foundation area comprehensively renovated and re-evaluated

The Roman commercial buildings - a mixture of commercial enterprise, tavern and hostel - are the best-preserved private building complex of the Roman period north of the Alps. The protective structure built above it in 1987 and the entire area of the ruins were renovated in parallel with the app development and upgraded with a new visitor platform and scene lighting. Among other things, the public now has an unobstructed view of the Roman floor heating and the historical wall paintings. With the redesign of the area and the way it is presented, the commercial buildings have become one of the main attractions of Augusta Raurica.

At the same time as the renovation work, the site was also re-evaluated. The results of this research were directly incorporated into the app and also appeared in a publication for the opening of the new exhibition.

Ceremonial opening by the financing cantons

The exhibition "Augusta Raurica AR Experience" is a joint project of the Roman city of Augusta Raurica (BL), the Cantonal Archaeology Aargau and the Real Estate Aargau with financial support from the Federal Office of Culture (BAK). The basic idea for the mediation approach is based on a research project of the School of Art and Design of the FHNW.

On 6 May 2022, Alex Hürzeler, Landammann and head of the Aargau Department of Education, Culture and Sport, and Monica Gschwind, head of the Basel-Land Education, Culture and Sport Directorate, opened the new exhibition in the presence of a representative of the FOC and around 70 invited guests. The Roman city of Augusta Raurica is now examining whether AR smartphone apps could also be considered for other sites.

Source: Media release