Overview

The archaeological site of Itálica, with over two thousand years of history, stands as a remarkable relic of ancient Rome. It was the first Roman city founded in Hispania and also outside Italian territory.

Being one of the most valuable archaeological sites on the Iberian Peninsula, the Andalusian Regional Government, through the Ministry of Culture and Historical Heritage and the Ministry of Economic Transformation, aimed to bring attention to and highlight this Roman city, the birthplace of emperors like Trajan, which captivates the imagination with a fascinating setting where the splendor of the past still endures.

Proposed Solution for Italica

Sandetel in collaboration with Vodafone Spain, defined the scope and execution of the project. It included a more immersive experience such as augmented reality and 3D recreations, to allow visitors to the archaeological site of Itálica to experience ‘in situ’ what the amphitheater and the ‘domus’ House of the Birds were like.

It was decided to use the EspaciosJunta app (currently EspaciosCultur@) based on Everpaths since it allows the versatility of incorporating this type of multimedia content. Additionally, Everpaths covers location and audio guidance both indoors and outdoors.

Implementation

Implementing the solution was straightforward as we had experience from the Museum of Fine Arts.

From the Everpaths administration web platform, the plans of the archaeological site were uploaded. Contents of relevant spaces and elements were created and positioned, with multilingual descriptions and multimedia content, such as the augmented reality feature of the amphitheater and the House of the Birds.

To enhance the localization experience, we combined various localization systems such as small Bluetooth (BLE) sensors and GPS. The total outdoor area covered is 61,000 m2.

The installation of the BLE beacons was simple and non-intrusive, as they are small and do not require wiring, thus not needing any construction or modification of the structures of the enclosure.

Results

The app has allowed visitors to the archaeological site not only to navigate and geo-position themselves within the enclosure but also to learn more about its history through content and images.

Moreover, they can immerse themselves in the different spaces of the reconstructed house as they were at their peak thanks to augmented reality.