Travel back in time to ancient Clonmacnois with new app

A novel new app showing a 3D reconstruction of Clonmacnois as it might have looked almost 1,000 years ago has recently been launched. The app can be used as an augmented reality app when on site in the ancient monastic settlement using the device's compass and GPS tracking, or offsite by using a touch screen navigation system. However visitors must ensure to download the app prior to visiting the historical site, as Clonmacnois is reportedly something of a current wifi black hole. The app named simply "Clonmacnois" has been developed by Galway company RealSim. RealSim MD Gavin Duffy said he was initially alerted to the project thanks to his background as a geophysicist which led him to becoming involved with an RTE documentary called "Secret of the Stones". That documentary looked at the development of Christianity in Ireland, with Clonmacnois included as a key site. As part of research in NUI Galway Gavin had surveyed the Shannon at Clonmacnois, looking particularly at submerged archaeology. While RTE may have kickstarted the process, the recently released Clonmacnois app is self-funded and solely owned by RealSim Games. "It's essentially like a window into how Clonmacnois may have looked," Gavin describes, adding that it's the closest you can get to "your own personal time travel device". At the moment the app is available just for iphones and ipads, though it's expected an android version will become available late next year. A statement from RealSim Games said it's appropriate that Clonmacnois, which was once a shining light of learning during Europe's Dark Ages, is once again lending itself as a pioneer in enlightenment as part of this 3D historical environment app that pushes forward how history and heritage is communicated to the public. "Smartphones and tablets have already transformed the way we communicate with each other and access information," it said. "Apps like this have a similar transformative potential on how we connect with our past." Feedback for the app so far has been positive according to Gavin. "There are a number of other areas where apps like this can add significant value. Take for example a small community with rich heritage that doesn't have the resources to build an expensive interpretative centre. An app like this could be their answer to bringing their story to a global audience and perhaps generate badly need tourist activity for the local economy. It could be used in a busy modern city, to show people the sights and sounds of the city hundreds of years earlier, turning a mundane high street walk into an engaging time travel experience." The biggest frustration with the project so far, and a major obstacle, is the lack of wifi access to visitors in Clonmacnois allowing them to access the app. "In fact it is a major obstacle to making the digital heritage app industry commercially viable," Gavin said. "The government actively promotes the technology and tourism sectors as they represent two of the best opportunities for growth. This app represents a new type of industry which combines technology and tourism but without the broadband infrastructure to help it grow it will never get off the ground or at very best its growth will be significantly stunted."