Relive the story of the Ara Pacis with augmented reality

The Ara as it Was is a multimedia story, history and technology in an immersive and multi-sensory visit of the Ara Pacis. Characters, gestures, gods, animals and colors come to life in 3D to illustrate the origins of Rome and the family of Augustus. It’s an immersive journey between computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality.

The use of avant-guard technology enriches the narration and creates a deeper emotional impact with the audience. Visitors are catapulted back into the past to relive it from a privileged position. Immersed in a 360° setting, they can admire the Ara Pacis while rediscovering its original colors: a sort of magic made possible by an experimental study carried out by the Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage over more than a decade that led to a hypothetical reconstruction but with the maximum approximation allowed.

The path is divided into 9 points of interest (POI), of which the POI 1 and the POI 2 – made with the combination of film footage, virtual reality and immersive technologies – is the main protagonist. The spectator, wearing the Samsung Gear VR viewers, is welcomed by the 360° shooting of today’s Ara Pacis and then finds himself wrapped in a white space in which he identifies the monument in its original color and Augustus is our special guide on this journey to discover Campo Marzio. After listening to the explanation of the various monuments you can admire, through a 3D reconstruction, the same Campo Marzio from above and then find yourself immersed in the area including the Pantheon, the Saepta Julia, the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Aqueduct, visible in all their magnificence. After this emotional flight the visitor is accompanied by Augustus in front of the colored Ara Pacis to attend the ritual of sacrifice made in 3D, computer graphics and with the involvement of real actors. Once the sacrifice has been completed, the spectator is brought back to reality to continue the journey through the details of the Ara Pacis (POI 3-9).