Panamarenko AR Trail is an augmented reality proof of concept developed as part of the Proeftuin Media XR & 5G project. In collaboration with the Panamarenko Foundation and researchers from the Immersive Lab (AP Hogeschool), DAE Research explored how AR technology can be used to connect people with cultural heritage in a more direct and location-based way.
This project investigated how mobile AR on smartphones can guide users toward a physical cultural site and allow them to experience digital representations of artworks once they arrive. The goal was to create an experience that is intuitive and engaging for a broad audience, including people who may not normally seek out museum or heritage content.
The outcome is an AR application that leads users toward the Panamarenko House in Antwerp. Rather than providing text or traditional navigation instructions, the experience uses a digital flying Bing sculpture as a guiding reference point. As users approach the location, the Bing subtly directs their movement toward the house. When the device’s positioning system can reliably detect the site, the second phase of the experience activates, and users can explore virtual artworks placed around them.
Two of Panamarenko’s works were selected for this experience: Bing of the Ferro Lusto X and Flying Carpet. The team used different methods to prepare these digital assets. For Bing, photogrammetry was used to create a detailed 3D model from hundreds of photographs. For Flying Carpet, which has thin and partially transparent materials, a hand-built reconstruction based on photographic references was chosen to preserve visual fidelity while remaining suitable for real-time AR. Once users reach the Panamarenko House, they can walk around the digital artworks and view them from multiple angles in the real world. The experience also includes access to a virtual view inside the garage, offering users a glimpse into a space they normally cannot enter.
From a technical perspective, the application combines two localisation techniques:
World Pose System (WPS) to guide users toward the house, and
Visual Positioning System (VPS) to accurately place the virtual artworks around the user once the location is recognised.
Panamarenko AR Trail demonstrates that location-based AR can be a feasible way to link digital art to physical places, offering users a natural, mobile experience that bridges the real and virtual. The project also highlights challenges such as precise localisation and visual integration of scanned environments, pointing to useful directions for future refinement.
Media5g article (Dutch):
Panamarenko AR
