Virtual Reconstruction with the Augmented Reality Technology of the Cultural Heritage Components that have Disappeared: The Ayazini Virgin Mary Church

Augmented reality (AR) method could be used in the context of being able to provide for the transfer of the architectural and tectonic attributes related to the period to which a historical building belongs, and under conditions where the reconstruction activities could produce damage to the integrity of the building or in situations where the financial resources remain insufficient for making reconstruction. Ayazini Village was selected as the study area. Ayazini Village is connected to Afyonkarahisar Province and is a region that is an extension of the Phrygian Valley, which has a 6,000-year-old past. The Ayazini Region is composed of layers, which produced the First-Degree Archaeological, Urban Archaeological, and First-Degree Natural Site areas. The rock settlements, which form the tectonic structure of Ayazini Village, were produced with the cutting of the tufa rocks that are described as Ayazini rock. The interior spaces and building components of the rock settlements have been damaged or disappeared in time. It is thought from this aspect that there are difficulties in the context of materials, cost, and labor for the reconstruction activities of the areas where these interior spaces were damaged. Within the scope of the research, a virtual restoration model was applied in the interior space of the Virgin Mary Church located in Ayazini Village by using the AR technology. The Virgin Mary Church is a unique historical building remaining from the Byzantine Middle Period when Christianity was accepted. The interior space of the Virgin Mary Church was damaged as the result of natural disasters and human influences over time. In this context, within the scope of the virtual restoration model in this research, the sections of the arches set on the columns in the interior space of the church that were damaged were treated in the integration of the interior space with the sign-based AR technology and reconstruction. The surfaces of the lower parts of the columns that were damaged were mapped with a laser scanner. The parts of the Quick Response (QR) code columns, which were damaged, were presented in simulations. These simulations contain the modeling of the columns from the aspect of shape, color, and fabric. The columns bearing the arches located in the interior space of the church were simulated in a computer environment by determining the colors, fabric, shape, and construction characteristics through the original photographs and based on the data in the literature and with the color pixelization and fabric characteristic mapping of the surfaces. At the conclusion of all these procedures, the data was transferred to the mobile application called Augment. The QR code assigned provided for the aligning under the columns by using the on-site test method and a laser scanner. The smart equipment, through the Augment application, showed the original condition and experienced on-site simultaneously the damaged parts of the column that were completed with the arch by perceiving the QR code.