March 2, 2018, by Erin Snyder

Digital Arts: Caistor Roman Town

A View from the Arts is running a series on digital projects in the Faculty of Arts, in advance of the Digital Research Week, which will run from  the 23^rd to the 27^th of April, 2018.

This is a guest post by Will Bowden.

In 2015 a new interpretation scheme was launched for the Roman town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk. Sponsored by Natural England, the scheme was created by a group comprising Will Bowden (UoN), the Norfolk Archaeological Trust (the site owners), and HDC International and JAM Creative (heritage interpretation specialists).

Using a free app (available for Apple and Android) visitors can access and explore augmented reality reconstructions of the site and collect virtual finds as they explore the town. Two friendly archaeological moles also pop up to tell children about being archaeologists. The content is triggered by code embedded in traditional static interpretation panels and so does not require a stable mobile signal or GPS connection.

The video below, courtesy of Jam Creative Studios, demonstrates the capabilities of the app.

We have recently won funding under the AHRC/EPSRC Next Generation of Immersive Experiences scheme to trial the development of a fully immersive 3D experience based around the Caistor model.

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