Proposed reconstruction of the Roman Fort of Eburodunum by using augmented reality

Demonstration
Robert Michel, Switzerland

The Castrum of Eburodunum is a Roman fortress and a naval base, built since the year 325 AD on the orders of the first Christian Roman emperors, Constantine the Great, on the site of Eburodunum (now Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland) , a roman vicus or small town almost totally destroyed to make way for the new military camp. It lies on a strategic road and river crossing and its construction began at the same time as the new capital of the Empire, Constantinople. With a surface area of some 22’600 m2, it has the function of being a great logistics support center, indispensable to Roman legions various supplies.
It remains today only a few remnants. If the destruction of the Castrum was almost complete, so that nothing is left to the surface, the plot of its walls is quite well known. Indeed, the majority of the powerful foundation walls and 15 towers are still well preserved in the ground to a height of about one meter. The existence of only two doors was found. One crosses the East wall; the other crosses the western rampart. It was therefore possible to trace exactly the precincts of the Castrum which has the shape of a diamond, with four unequal sides; the south side is broken by a very open angle.

Land which is currently under the Castrum are largely public and free of construction. Even if the surface is open, there can be no question of rebuild today “life-size” some element particularly suggestive as a tower or a door for example.
It was therefore proposed to make a virtual model builds with Away 3D software. The realization of a reusable augmented reality 3D model for digital devices involves the use of specific material data and metrics. Researches in excavations data were necessary to achieve it.
The use of augmented reality combined with a smartphone or a digital tablet will allow visitors to discover the Roman Castrum of Eburodunum as it appeared in the 4th century AD. Audio comments will be provided in three languages (French , German and English) as well as the results of the excavations , such as photographs , maps , objects , etc. can be activated on a user request .