Augmenting Heritage: An Open-Source Multiplatform AR Application

Abstract: AI NeRF algorithms, capable of cloud processing, have significantly reduced hardware requirements and processing efficiency in photogrammetry pipelines. This accessibility has unlocked the potential for museums, charities, and cultural heritage sites worldwide to leverage mobile devices for artifact scanning and processing. However, the adoption of augmented reality platforms often necessitates the installation of proprietary applications on users' mobile devices, which adds complexity to development and limits global availability. This paper presents a case study that demonstrates a cost-effective pipeline for visualizing scanned museum artifacts using mobile augmented reality, leveraging an open-source embedded solution on a website.