AR reconstruction experience at the Roman stone saw
Project showcase
From material gathering to a fully built reconstruction
Roman Workshop was designed as an on-site AR experience that turns historical explanation into a clear interaction loop. Instead of only reading about the Roman pendulum saw, visitors scan the location, collect materials, assemble the mechanism with a transparent holographic guide, and finish with a clearer, materialized reconstruction of the full machine.
Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald
A cultural-heritage context tied to one of the UNESCO Global Geoparks.
Felsenmeer, Lautertal
The project connects the digital reconstruction directly to the real site and its historical artifact.
Learn by building
Explain how the Roman pendulum saw worked through interaction rather than passive viewing.
Tracking & scene setup
I worked on the Unity-based AR implementation, image-tracking flow and the spatial setup that anchors the experience to the physical site.
Gather, guide & assemble
I contributed to the core user flow: gathering resources, preparing the workshop logic, and supporting the step-by-step assembly of the holographic saw guide.
Prototype refinement
The experience was iterated through Android testing, with improvements focused on clarity, outdoor usability, object placement and visitor readability.
Trailer
Roman Workshop in motion
Experience flow
Three clear steps for visitors
01 · Gather
Collect workshop materials
The experience begins with a simple preparation step in which visitors gather the materials needed for the build.
02 · Assemble
Build on a holographic guide
A transparent reconstruction helps the visitor understand how the parts fit together before the machine becomes complete.
03 · Reveal
Materialize the final saw
The last step turns the guided build into a more complete Roman pendulum saw, linking the interaction back to the historical artifact.
Experience design
Built for visitors at the real site
The interaction model stays intentionally simple: scan the site, gather materials, follow the holographic guide and complete the reconstruction. This keeps the experience accessible for tourists, students and first-time AR users.
The combination of real-location context and guided digital reconstruction helps the Roman saw feel meaningful rather than detached from the place.
Technical approach
Stable mobile AR before spectacle
The prototype was developed in Unity 6 with AR Foundation image tracking. Because it is intended for on-site use, tracking stability, re-acquisition, scale clarity and mobile performance were treated as primary constraints from the beginning.
This technical focus directly shaped the UX: the transparent guide supports comprehension, while the step-by-step assembly keeps the task understandable on a handheld device.
Roman Workshop was developed as a collaborative university project. This page focuses on my contribution while presenting the overall project outcome in a concise portfolio format.