Wooden bridges of Lucerne in AR
Thanks to a specific fund contribution, the City of Lucerne and Lucerne Tourism were given the opportunity to present their well-known wooden bridges in a new light. This support gave them the chance to make the bridges digitally visible and thus to upgrade them. The wooden bridges are the Chapel Bridge, the Spreuer Bridge and the Hofbrücke, the latter being deconstructed around 1850.
The Digital Heroes agency developed the website and the associated smartphone app for the website. In addition to a wealth of background information on the history of these historical buildings, it also offers visitors a knowledge quiz, 360 ° panoramic shots and a digital tour.
The interactive app offers a virtual guide that takes users on a journey into the history of Lucerne's famous wooden bridges. The digital tour can be experienced comfortably from home.
Another experience is the discovery of the bridges as 3D models on your own kitchen table. The smartphone app relies on the function of augmented reality. The smartphone uses a camera to measure the surface of the shelf on which it is to place the object. The 3D model of the wooden bridge is then added to the virtual space of the smartphone. The object is now visible on the screen and the viewer can walk around and approach it.
The screenshot from the smartphone shows how the 3D model has independently placed itself on the table.
Spacebar was allowed to support the agency with the texturing of the 3D models for the augmented reality function. The bare virtual geometry of the bridges was supplemented with color and images in order to offer a visually appealing presentation.
Spacebar received the raw 3D model, which was optimized for further processing of the textures, from the Geoinformation Center of the City of Lucerne. The 3D geometry was prepared in such a way that it was developed on a flat surface. On this prepared surface, images can then be added and edited in an image processing program, which then find their correct place on the model in 3D.
The free app is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Have fun exploring!
Project: Lucerne wooden bridges
Client: City of Lucerne
Concept & programming: Digital Heroes
3D model: geographic information center
Texturing: Spacebar
Year: 2020
The 3D geometry of the Chapel Bridge in comparison with and without texture.
Here in comparison, the developed geometry with and without texture. Each polygon of the 3D model finds its place on this surface and then transfers the colors of the texture to the 3D model.