// Journeys in AR
Project: SBIR: Virtual Historic Dublin City
Client: Office of Public Works Ireland & Enterprise Ireland
Role: CR&D into using spatial data for visitor engagement at historic sites in Ireland
Partners: UCL’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), Four Door Productions, New Chromantics
Augmented Reality Interactive printVolumetric film and augmented reality charactersStart:
The Office of Public Works (OPW) launched a European innovation competition to develop new tools for heritage interpretation and visitor engagement across their 400+ historic sites. The starting point was a comprehensive aerial LiDAR scan and photo survey of historic Dublin city.
TGA partnered with UCL’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) to interrogate these rich datasets and capture new street-level 3D models around Dublin Castle. Collaborating with TGACom, the National Archives of Ireland, and other creative/technical partners in Dublin, the team explored new possibilities for immersive, interactive interpretation.
Interactive 3D models of buildings with content hotspotsJourney:
The outcome of Round 1 was a pioneering approach to nesting 3D spatial models inside one another, creating an interactive, explorable digital world. This environment was enriched with hotspots, archival content, and interpretive media, optimised for web delivery on laptops, smartphones, tablets, and headsets.
This innovation secured progression to Round 2, where the focus shifted to developing visitor experiences for both manned and unmanned sites. TGA partnered with Four Door Productions and New Chromantics to prototype an Augmented Reality (AR) trail creator platform. This tool empowered OPW teams to design, publish, and manage AR experiences for any location, accessible through a visitor-facing app.
A standout creative achievement was the digital reconstruction of the historic Paper Records Office, lost to fire, allowing visitors to explore it virtually within the ancient tower setting.
Augmented reality windows into the past
Augmented reality frame installationsDestination:
The project successfully demonstrated a scalable, flexible digital interpretation platform for heritage environments. It combined cutting-edge spatial modelling, AR authoring tools, and accessible public engagement approaches — offering OPW a practical, future-proof way to bring untold stories to life at their sites, both digitally and on location.