Erik DOBAT1 / Christof FLÜGEL2
(Boundary Productions, Neuried, Germany /2Landessstelle nichtstaatliche Museen Munich, Germany /)
Outline:
The main objective of the project is to provide archaeological information about the Wolrd Heritage Site “The Limes in Germany” on mobile devices (smart phones). Very important is also the integration of GPS navigation. Therefore the pilot project covers a 50 km stretch of the Limes along the river Main.
Abstract:
The technological development of mobile devices such as smart phones opens new possibilites for the presentation of scientific data. Short films, audio sequences, stills and text can be displayed in good quality.
Archaeology in particular provides many possibilities to play a poineer part in the field of mobile information systems. You can find archaeology in the landscape, but also in the museum. The idea of the project is to merge the landscape with the museum and vice versa. The information system provides archaeological content right at the current location (either in the museum or in the landscape). And the smart phones provides a true multimedia experience for the user: short films (i.e.: interviews or 3D Animations) as well as audio sequences or texts with pictures. Through GPS navigation the smart phone will alert the user, when approaching a hot spot with archaeological information.
The application will run offline. Therefore an internet connection is not mandatory. This is especially important for remote regions and also for users from different countries (roaming costs).
In Bavaria the Limes along the river Main has been chosen for the pilot project. The 50 km stretch of the river frontier is clearly defined. Also there are previous projects such as a concept for signposting and a web data base. Therefore the region provides ideal conditions for the development of a prototype. The plattform of the pilot system will be the iPhone (iPod Touch, iPad), but it will be possible to move to other operating systems such as Android or Windows Mobile.
Keywords:
GPS, Mobile Information System, Video, Audio