ChronoLens: An Augmented Reality Platform for High-Fidelity Heritage Preservation and Digital Immortality
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Abstract
Historical heritage sites across the globe face significant threats from physical decay, climate change, and human conflict. Traditional preservation methods often fail to engage younger, digital native audiences. This paper proposes “ChronoLens,” a scalable Augmented Reality (AR) platform designed to bridge the gap between historical ruins and their original architectural glory. By utilizing a high- fidelity 3D pipeline involving photogrammetry, Blender optimization, and Unity AR Foundation, ChronoLens overlays pristine 3D reconstructions onto existing physical sites. The platform integrates immersive features such as a “Time-Travel Slider,” spatial audio, and gamified educational elements to provide an interactive historical experience. By offering “Digital Immortality” for historical sites, ChronoLens aims to preserve architectural knowledge and revitalize the tourism experience through real-time, immersive education. The study evaluates system performance across varying hardware tiers, achieving high stability and frame rates on consumer-grade mobile devices.
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