Abstract
The visualization and analysis of mosaics and pavements
are often compromised by their large sizes, which do not enable the
observer to perceive their whole arrangement or to focus on details
placed in farthest areas from its boundaries. Moreover, the usual
precarious state of conservation of these artefacts, often with damaged
or missing areas, makes it difficult to perceive their original
aesthetic value. To overcome these limitations, we propose an
application of augmented reality able to support the observer in two
ways: first, the application completes the missing surface of the mosaic
or pavement by integrating the existent surface with a virtual
reconstruction; second, it enables the analysis of the geometric pattern
of the mosaic/pavement by overlaying virtual lines and geometric
figures in order to explicit its geometric arrangements. The result is
achieved via a custom Android application able to recognize and track
the mosaic figure pattern and extra marker board, obtaining in that way a
coordinate system used to render in real-time the reconstruction of the
mosaic. Such rendering is overlaid to the video stream of the real
scene. The application runs on a standard smartphone embedded in a
Google Cardboard-compatible viewer and therefore is extremely
affordable. As a case study, in order to reconstruct its aspects and to
analyse its geometric pattern, we chose the roman mosaic re-found in
Savignano sul Panaro (near Modena, Italy) in 2011, after 115 years from
its first discovery, which is preserved less than half of its original
4.5 x 6.9 m surface.