A review of ontologies for augmented reality cultural heritage applications

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review ontologies and data models currently in use for augmented reality applications, in the cultural heritage domain, specifically in an urban environment. The aim is to see the current trends in ontologies and data models used and investigate their applications in real world scenarios. Some special cases of applications or ontologies are also discussed, as being interesting enough to merit special consideration.Design/methodology/approach – A search using google scholar and scopus was done, for articles that describe ontologies and data models in urban environment augmented reality applications. We identified the articles that analyze the use of ontologies and/or data models, as well as articles that were deemed to be of special interest.Findings - The work shows that a combination of current ontologies seems to be the most complete way to fully describe a cultural heritage object or site. A layered ontology model is suggested, which can be expanded according to the project. Originality - This study is aimed at reviewing the ontologies and data models in a very narrow field of augmented reality applications. There are many ontologies currently in use in the cultural heritage domain, with none having been universally adopted, while new ontologies or extensions to existing ones are being created, in the attempt to fully describe a cultural heritage object or site. Reviewing and discussing the combinations of these ontologies, and suggesting a model can be very impactful in the design of such applications.