Ghent Altarpiece

Solution

Using AR glasses (the Microsoft Hololens 2.0), visitors go on a journey into the digital past, to relive the rich history of the Ghent Altarpiece and St. Bavo's Cathedral. At the end of the digital tour, visitors can admire the real Ghent Altarpiece in all its glory.

We are very proud of this great AR project at this beautiful location, on one of the world's most iconic works of art. More than 150 AR glasses are used, which is completely unique.

The Hololens 2.0 is Microsoft's take on Augmented Reality. It uses holograms to display information, blend with the real world, or even simulate a virtual world, using multiple sensors, advanced optics and holographic processing melting seamlessly with its environment.

During this project, a number of technical challenges originated in some world firsts.

• Dynamic flow & navigation: a full true-to-life automatic navigation with virtual arrows, feet and direction indicators provides each visitor with the best and easiest experience.
• Interactive 3D AR assistant: this digital assistant will check whether visitors wear the glasses correctly, reassures and guides the visitor through this new experience and will also address visitors walking in the wrong direction.
• Custom Device Management: a tailor-made monitoring tool for staff checks the installation/circuit 7/7, 24/24 for malfunctions, battery status and user flow.
• High quality 3D models: models were optimized for the specific needs of the augmented reality projection. Ensuring high detail and material properties while staying within the performance limits of the headsets.
• Dynamic loading: smart scene loading logic guarantees the scenes are loaded in the background so the user never has to wait.