3D Modeling and Augmented Reality in Education: An Effective Application for the Museo dei Saperi e delle Mirabilia of the University of Catania

Augmented reality is the process of using technology to superimpose video, images, text or sound onto what a person can already see with their own eyes in the reality around them. It is enough to have a smartphone or tablet to change the reality in front of you. In fact, by means of an app, the user can display on his or her device content related to what is in front of him or her, accessing an ‘altered’ version of reality. Augmented Reality content can add value to any museum or art gallery and offer interactive solutions to entertain people and create rewarding engagement opportunities. This technology, applied to the field of Cultural Heritage and museum enjoyment, brings a significant enhancement to experiential feedback, attracting an ever-widening audience. In 2021, the National Gallery in London sought to take the collections of the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts beyond the museum walls with an Augmented Reality experience that the public could access via smartphones. Users used an app to activate artworks marked with QR codes and the initiative was very successful. The Museo dei Saperi e delle Mirabilia Siciliane at the University of Catania has set itself the goal of using this technology to display ‘digital versions’ of selected artefacts, bringing them to life in contexts outside the museum space. There are already many institutions using Augmented Reality and many more are being added all the time.