SensiMARSensiMAR: The Local of the Experience
– “Where is SensiMAR taking place? Conimbra was a huge Roman city, can you be more specific?”
– “Yes, I can. Let’s explore the House of Cantaber.”
Among the last few weeks, apart from the work accomplished related to Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, and some parallel research on augmented reality implementations for rehabilitation of patients with autism, the work on SensiMAR has also seen some progress. But they are not visible yet.
However, some decisions were made after several meetings and a couple of brainstormings, in particular, the exact place where SensiMAR will be implemented. A 360-degree photo was taken of the place, as the following shows.
This virtual tour is also available in https://roundme.com/tour/445106/view/1531953/.
Where, in Conimbriga?
An early decision was made together with the director of the Monographic Museum of Conimbriga-National, Dr. José Ruivo, with the archaeologist of the referred museum, Dr. Virgílio Correia, and with Dr. Humberto Rendeiro: a wealthy house – a domus – is a good spot to make a multisensory experience.
The reasons that took us to this decision, were related to several aspects, among them, the rich architecture associated to these houses, the good amount of archaeological information that we currently have, and the cleanliness of these places. For instance, thermal baths and tanning areas were immediately discarded due to the strong smells present, which would be, according to experts, impossible to stand.
More busy areas such as commercial and market zones, would be in such a manner busy and full of elements and people that would confuse and obscure the user due to the huge amount of visual elements, audio clues, and diversity of smells.
Thus, the house of Cantaber appears to provide a well-balanced amount of elements and activities, that hopefully, will enable the user to have a fruitful and engaging experience.
Figure 1 - House of Cantaber highlighted in the city map of Conimbriga (created by Anabela Marto, based on the map in www.conimbriga.pt)
House of Cantaber
The house of Cantaber, due to its position in relation the urban centre of Conimbriga, was from the beginning of our discussions, a strong candidate for the multisensory experience of SensiMAR. Its central position in relation to the urban centre of Conimbriga is a great advantage because of the surrounding activity. The following figure illustrates a collection made regarding to some of the elements and activities that would take place nearby the house of Cantaber.
Figure 2 - The footprint of the house of Cantaber (on the top) shows the position of the user, inside the house. On the bottom, a city footprint illustrates the activities and elements that would interfeer with the soundscape, for someone who would stay where the user will be - marked with a cross.
Another strong factor in favour to this spot is related to the main road, a requirement of SensiMAR experience which intends to show movement outside the house. Nowadays, the ruins of this house still provide straight access to the main road. Other wealthy houses, such as house of Skeletons, or the house of the Swastika, don’t have access to the main road anymore, due the wall built in a later period in the city.
Figure 3 - The wall, visible in the picture (on the right), was built where it used to be the main road.
The house of Fountains was left out for this experience because the fountains still work nowadays. When they are activated, a very pleasant soundscape involves the visitant. However, the sound of the fountains, for being so loud, would interfere with the soundscape added to the SensiMAR experience.
Thus, the house of Cantaber has all requirements needed for SensiMAR experience: the main road visible from inside, an interior garden (peristyle), several rooms around where different activities may occur, it has a central position regarding to urban activity of this Roman city, and without external obstacles. Thus, we look forward to have a augmented scene soon, hoping to provide enhanced experiences to those who will try it!
