You’ve probably been there too: you’re standing in front of a ruin and would love to know more about it. If you have a smartphone, this is now possible in many places in Luxembourg, but also in Rhineland-Palatinate, with the ARGO app. It was developed as part of the project “Antike Realität – mobil erleben” (AR-MOB), a transnational EU LEADER project to promote rural areas in the greater Eifel-Mosel-Hunsrück region. The project is managed by the University of Trier.
The idea of the project is to use augmented reality, i.e. computer-generated models, to display ancient monuments in reality via smartphone or tablet and thus make them tangible for visitors, even though the monuments have not existed for centuries. So when you look at various ruins with the ARGO app, you can see what the buildings might have looked like back then. The digital models were made according to the most recent scientific findings.
This gives you a unique impression of how Stone Age monuments, Roman villas or medieval fortresses once shone. Of course, the app also provides explanations of the monuments and a glossary of archaeological terms. Especially for children, a visit to historical sites with ARGO becomes a particularly vivid history lesson.
The examples shown are from Dalheim, where the Roman vicus Ricciacus once stood, at an important trading post on the road between Metz and Trier. There was even a theatre here, the remains of which can be visited.
Information for parents
- The app is available for Android and iOS. It can be downloaded free of charge.
- On the website www.ar-route.eu you can find more information about the project and an overview map of the sites that have been modelled so far.
- More about Roman life in Dalheim can be found here: www.ricciacus.lu
