Virtual Reality Experience and Mobile app
The Palazzo Te, built in Mantua between 1525 and 1535, is the masterpiece of Giulio Romano, ordered by Federico II Gongazaga. In 1530 the palace was inaugurated in front of the emperor Charles V. He was so fascinated by it that promoted Gonzaga from marquis to duke.
To dynamize the interest points of this treasure of the Italian Renaissance, we digitized its heritage. The result served us to build an Augmented Reality experience through the geolocated mobile app. To make the visit even more suggestive, we did the scenographic design of the stations of Virtual Reality, with animations of the wall frescoes.
CLIENT Palazzo Te
PARTNER Electa Editore y Pedro Torres
YEAR 2019
FEATURES
- Scenographic design of the VR stations
- Geolocated mobile app
- Immersive experience
- Augmented Reality
- Virtual Reality
- 3D Animation
- Wi-Fi network system
Project
The Italian artistic and architectural heritage is very rich, but only a 10% of its structures are digitized, and less than half use interactive technologies.
Before our intervention, the Palazzo Te did not use technological tools for the divulgation of its heritage either.
First, we digitalized the documents and the internal and external environments of the Palazzo. The material, that is since available for the scientific research, has been listed and used to make a geolocated mobile app.
Using state-of-the-art technologies, we realized and managed a Wi-Fi network system in the internal spaces of the museum. We installed a net to protect the data and manage the flow of visitors.
VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE
In this proposal, there had to be virtual reality stations. Thanks to the VR, OCULUS GO visors, and the 3D model maps and planimetries, we accompany the visitor on a suggestive trip through the rooms inside Palazzo Te.
The design of this experience foresees 4 virtual reality stations, accompanied by the same number of visors, that allow to immerse into the frescoes of Giulio Romano, see animations of the characters (for example in the tragic and evocative scene of the “Camera dei Giganti”) and observe how the Palazzo was presented in those times.
All of this, always maintaining the texture and the original drawings of the master, and following the historical and artistic documentation.
GEOLOCATED APP OF AUGMENTED REALITY
The interactive mobile app accompanies the public in the visiting experience and indicates the services offered. It is available for the main smartphone platforms (Android and iOS) and can be downloaded easily through their stores.
The main functionalities of the application are:
- Interpretation of the areas of the monumental complex with in-depth sheets of the tours.
- Advice of the spaces and services, thanks to the geolocated map.
- Activation of the Augmented Reality interaction points, thanks to the geolocated map.
- Communications service (assistance, panic button, news, etc.)
Particularly, through the GPS system, the mobile app automatically activates the in-depth sheets of the interest points, when the visitor is in range. In the main rooms of the Palazzo the augmented reality interactions are developed, including a 3D model of the architectonic complex.
PRELIMINARY PROJECT
The first proposals for the project were many. Some of them are still not materialized:
- A room with a robotic arm that builds the planimetries of the architecture of the Palazzo.
- An experiential room with video projection against a semicircular wall.
- A virtual reality experience about the city of Mantua with VR stations with a standing posture, for better movement possibilities.
- The expositions design of a studying room to investigate the objects, books, maps and furniture at the time.
- A backlighted tulle cube with projections to present the rooms painted by Giulio Romano.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
SOFTWARE
- Unity
- Blender
- After Effects
HARDWARE
- Oculus SDK
