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| A screen captured from "AR Deoksugung" / Courtesy of Cultural Heritage Administration |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Deoksu Palace, one of the royal palaces of 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, in the heart of Seoul, will be available for a handy visit through an augmented reality (AR) service.
The Deoksugung Palace Management Office and SK Telecom co-developed "AR Deoksugung," the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) announced Tuesday.
The service is part of SK Telecom's "Jump AR" app which provides realistic and immersive content to explore the 12 palace buildings and the grounds covering over 61,200 square meters. The palace is best known for its mix of Korean traditional and Western architecture, reflecting the wave of modernization that hit Korea in the late 19th century.
"AR Deoksugung" consists of three programs. "AR Map" allows users to take a look around three-dimensional recreations of the palace. Viewers can tour around the palace along recommended routes and read descriptions of each structure.
"AR Photo Zone" is for those who actually visit the palace. Currently, the royal palace in downtown Seoul is open to the public, except for indoor facilities including Seokjojeon Hall and Jungmyeongjeon Hall.
When visitors turn their application on in front of each the four main builings ― Daehanmun Gate, Junghwajeon Hall, Seokeodang Hall and Seokjojeon Hall, animals such as a cat and a panda will appear on screen along with the building allowing visitors to take pictures with them.
"AR Previous Life" is a photo filter service which has options such as king, queen and royal guard of the Joseon Kingdom.
However, the application is currently undergoing testing and is available only for Android. The CHA said it will update the iOS application as soon as possible. English content for foreigners will be updated around the end of March.
"During the test run, we will try to improve technical problems and assess the content through historical research to make better AR content using cultural heritage," the CHA said in a statement.
