Customer's background

The historical reserve of federal importance Kizhi is located on a picturesque island in the Republic of Karelia. This open-air museum is divided into nine sectors. Each of these sectors contains objects of the cultural heritage of the Russian Federation. The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord belongs to Vasilyevo. It is the main exposition sector of the museum. This Church is a vital component of the Kizhi churchyard complex.

From 1941 to 1943, Zaonezhie — the historical name of the area where the island of Kizhi is located — was occupied. As a result, many cultural monuments were stolen. The famous Heaven of the Church of the Transfiguration was also lost forever.

Task

The Ariseum team has received a task to restore the Heaven of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord using AR. For this, we decided to develop an iOS app. Since the workflow is related to cultural objects, we needed to take into account several specific points:

• a full-size virtual copy of the Heaven must comply with all the canons of icon painting, according to which the original was created;
• it is not allowed to place QR codes and other markers that activate AR in temples;
• the AR technology cannot run correctly in an environment of the insufficient natural lighting of the church.

Solution

Ariseum specialists have created an app compatible with iOS tablets. This app allows visitors to see the reconstruction of the Heaven in AR mode.

The creation of a virtual copy of the Heaven was performed in several stages. The first version of seventeen fragments of the Heaven was drawn on paper using tempera paints. After the approval by an icon painting expert of the client’s choice, the images were transferred to a graphic format for further correction and detailing. Only after these stages were completed, the 16 rays and the central medallion were brought together into one large image of the Heaven.

AR technology allows a 3D model of the Heaven to be placed on the existing construction of the church’s ceiling without any distortion. It is important to note that you do not need an Internet connection to view the image — all data is stored in the app.

The interface is available in two languages — Russian and English. To adapt the functionality of the app for different periods of the day, we have created three modes of operation: Day, Night, and 3D model. The Day mode can be used in the daytime when the natural light is intense enough. The second and third modes exist to compensate for the lack of light. When selecting the Night mode, the Heaven appears directly above the guest's head even if the light is dimmer. The 3D model mode allows the user to place the 3D model wherever they want in space. This allows a guest to examine the icons without rising head up, which is more convenient.

Also, you can find a help mode in the app. It allows viewing the info windows, which contain data about each Saint that is drawn on the fragments of the Heaven.

How it works

Since the installation of any additional markers is prohibited, the image is activated when the camera detects the iconostasis. After activating the AR, it is necessary to point the tablet's camera at the corresponding construction of the Heaven at the top of the Transfiguration Temple. No matter if the tablet is in a horizontal or vertical position, the detailed image of the Heaven will perfectly match the construction.

Help information can be opened by clicking on the "i" symbol. Clicking on the Settings icon will open a window for selecting the language and mode of the application.

Rendering

The construction of the Lord’s Transfiguration Church has an eight-faced shape. There are 2 sides (16 in total) on each of the faces. These sides are directed to the central medallion. In total, the Heaven consists of 17 fragments. Specialists of the Ariseum team have done their best to restore each of these fragments in the smallest detail.

While creating the images, we relied on historically accurate descriptions of the Heaven and black-and-white photos, provided by the client. After the drawings, made on paper, were approved, we used graphic editors to carry out their detailing and correction. It was vital to develop a 3D model that fully fits the geometry of the image. This way, it is possible to avoid any distortions when overlaying the model in AR. Therefore, first, we created a copy of the sky construction itself, and only then applied a texture with fragments restored by our artists to it.

Equipment

The app can be installed on an iPad with ARKit support.

Result

As a result of the work of Ariseum, an important missing element of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was restored. It is a cultural heritage site of federal significance, so we are especially proud of this work. With the help of AR, the Heaven of the temple, which seemed to have sunk into oblivion, can be viewed in the smallest detail and full scale.