The Application of Augmented Reality Technology on Museum Exhibition—A Museum Display Project in Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tombs

Augmented Reality (AR) technology currently is widely used in the fields of military, medical, entertainment, Tourism, industrial and etc. In our research, we applied the AR technology into the exhibition of the historical relics in the Mawangdui Han dynasty tombs China. Thousands of the unearthed historical relics have close connections with each other in both cultural and spacial value. However, they are exhibited separately in traditional exhibition way. In this research, we have promoted a new method by using the AR technology to exhibit the historical relics together through the mobile terminal. This project has achieved impressive results on a scaled down model test. This application first captures real scene and detects features, then loads the 3D structure or animation after building the real word coordinate system from the data obtained before. Through the real-time rendering, we are able to argument archaeological features onto the real word scene, enable the audience to get much realer and richer museum experience. This method not only demonstrates a clear position and historical content of different historical relics but also provides interaction between users and historical relics. It brings a new exhibition method in the museum and people would enjoy a more interesting museum experience.