The eARt app lets you see HD images of the cave paintings at Ulldecona | Cultural Heritage. Goverment of Catalonia.

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The eARt app lets you see HD images of the cave paintings at Ulldecona

Museu d''Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC)

The eARt app lets you see HD images of the cave paintings at Ulldecona

Using augmented reality, the app places the visitor in the heart of "Catalonia's oldest legend" 17.11.2015

The cave paintings at the Shelter of the Shrine of Ulldecona are known as "Catalonia's oldest legend". They capture a dynamic hunting scene which shows the small figures of hunters ready to encircle and kill a herd of deer and goats.

The scene, already impressive by itself, now has a new ally to make its story even more powerful: technology. Now, people visiting the cave paintings will have access to eARt, an augmented reality app that can be accessed via your mobile or tablet and lets you see virtual and high definition images of the pictographs.

The Centre d’Interpretació d’Art Rupestre (CIAR) Abrics de l’Ermita (Centre for the Interpretation of Cave Art Shrine Shelters) has introduced this pioneering tool which lets viewers see the narrative composition of the Shelter and to better understand it using additional contextual information.

eARt is available on Android and iOS and is based on identifying images in real time using patterns pre-defined with photos and 3D models. When you place the screen in front of the cave paintings, the app gives the viewer a spectacular view of the hunting scene painted 4000 years ago.

The project makes visitors direct participants in the experience and promotes sustainable cultural tourism.

Levantine cave art, UNESCO Human Heritage

The Cave Art of the Mediterranean Basin in the Iberian Penninsula is made up of 757 sites with paintings and was awarded World Heritage status in 1998. Together they form the largest collection of cave paintings in Europe.

In Catalonia these include the shrine shelters of la Serra de la Pietat (Ulldecona), the Roca dels Moros (el Cogul) and the Cova dels Vilasos o dels Vilars (Os de Balaguer), amongst others.