USAL professor Olivia Rivero, director of the USAL Prehistoric Technology Laboratoryhas presented the application that allows to see in detail through augmented reality, the prehistoric carvings which cannot be seen with the naked eye. The application was funded by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Innovation for the development of proofs of concept, amounting to 69,000 euros. Thanks to this, and via mobile devices, guides and visitors to the cave Hornos de la Peña, located in San Felices de Buelna (Cantabria), can see on the spot and in great detail the almost invisible carvings on the walls. eye.
“We have applied augmented reality to prehistoric art to complement the guided visit to the cave, so that through the app the guides can focus the carvings with their mobile devices and view them in optimal conditions.” explains Olivia Riveroprincipal investigator of the Ministry-funded project and who has been working on the Hornos de la Peña Cave since 2013, in this case with funding from the Government of Cantabria.
For this reason, the Vice President of Cantabria and Minister of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sport, Pablo Zulogagawas in charge of announcing the application, at a press conference held this morning in Santander In which, in addition to Professor Rivero, the Director General of Cultural Heritage and Historical Memory, Zoraida Hijosa, and the Director of the Prehistoric Caves of Cantabria and the Museum of Prehistory and Archeology of Cantabria, Roberto Ontañón, participated.
The technological development of the application has been carried out by the Cinemedia & Heritage company, and the aim of Professor Rivero and her team is to implement this technology in new petroglyph spaces all over Spain.
I work all over Europe
Olivia Rivero, who directs the USAL Prehistoric Technology Laboratory, focuses her lines of research on the technological study of furniture and parietal art from the European Upper Paleolithic, microscopic analysis for the reconstruction of artist’s gestures, and application of statistical analysis methods for the study of the characteristics of Paleolithic artistic production. The methodology he applies to his research has enabled us to characterize the processes of artistic learning in the Paleolithic.
His research activity also includes the analysis of the visual perception of Paleolithic art and the study of the hunter-gatherer-fisherman and reindeer herding societies of the Siberian and Canadian Arctic for the analysis of the transmission of artistic knowledge and the use of art as an element of group cohesion.
Professor Rivero directs and participates in numerous research teams, including the projects related to the world heritage caves of Hornos de la Peña (Cantabria) and El Pindal (Asturias), as well as the deposits of Chauvet (France). ) and the La Garma cave research project (Cantabria).
