LiDAR- and AR-Based Monitoring of Evolved Building Façades upon Zoning Conflicts.

Zoning conflicts have transformed Old Street fabrics in terms of architectural style and construction material in Lukang, Taiwan. This transformation should be assessed as a contribution to digital cultural sustainability. The objective of this study was to compare the evolved façades resultant from the changes made by the development of architectural history and urban planning. A combination of 3D scan technology and a smartphone augmented reality (AR) app, Augment®, was applied to the situated comparison with direct interaction on-site. The AR application compared 20 façades in the laboratory and 18 façades in four different sites using a flexible interface. The comparisons identified the correlation of evolved façades in real sites in terms of building volumes and components, pedestrian arcades on store fronts, and previous installations. The situated comparisons were facilitated in a field study with real-time adjustments to 3D models and analyses of correlations across details and components. The application of AR was demonstrated to be effective in reinstalling scenes and differentiating diversified compositions of vocabulary in a remote site.

ARTS, an AR Tourism System, for the Integration of 3D Scanning and Smartphone AR in Cultural Heritage Tourism and Pedagogy.

Interactions between cultural heritage, tourism, and pedagogy deserve investigation in an as-built environment under a macro- or micro-perspective of urban fabric. The heritage site of Shih Yih Hall, Lukang, was explored. An Augmented Reality Tourism System (ARTS) was developed on a smartphone-based platform for a novel application scenario using 3D scans converted from a point cloud to a portable interaction size. ARTS comprises a real-time environment viewing module, a space-switching module, and an Augmented Reality (AR) guide graphic module. The system facilitates scenario initiations, projection and superimposition, annotation, and interface customization, with software tools developed using ARKit® on the iPhone XS Max®. The three-way interaction between urban fabric, cultural heritage tourism, and pedagogy was made possible through background block-outs and an additive or selective display. The illustration of the full-scale experience of the smartphone app was made feasible for co-relating the cultural dependence of urban fabric on tourism. The great fidelity of 3D scans and AR scenes act as a pedagogical aid for students or tourists. A Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ) evaluation verified the usefulness of ARTS.

MARINS: A Mobile Smartphone AR System for Pathfinding in a Dark Environment.

Traditional egress routes are normally indicated on floor plans and function as designed, assuming that people can identify their relative location and orientation. However, the evacuation process can easily become complicated in a dark or hazardous environment with potential blockage of unexpected obstacles. This study developed the mobile AR indoor navigation system (MARINS) using a smartphone as a device to guide users to exits in a 0-lux setting with the path only illuminated by the phone camera's LED. The system is developed using Apple ARKit SDK with the associated simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) function on a Unity platform in four modules. A maze scenario is planned in an environment built by carton walls. Time and distance traveled by the experimental group and the control group are measured. The results of statistical analysis demonstrate that the MARINS system can reduce travel time in known space and in total summation compared to the application of a traditional map. The system also reduces travel distance and misjudgments with higher system usability than the application of a traditional map.