Eureka! Institutional Repository

It is a fact that at the beginning of the 21st century we find new technologies and scientific discoveries unfolding rapidly in almost all research sectors. Technological progress has enabled the creation of a new generation of advanced smart devices with great computing capabilities that can support innovative technologies by changing the facts as we know them. One of these technologies is the promising, augmented reality (AR). It is based on the interaction between the virtual and the real world through the digital enhancement of the latter. The purpose of this postgraduate diploma thesis is to deepen in the intelligent technological field of the augmented reality through its exploitation to create an Android mobile tour guide application. The application provides the user with a touring experience on popular monuments of the city of Thessaloniki. It is based on the digital enrichment of the printed form of the monuments with tourist information. For the purpose of implementation, it was preceded by the necessary research review in the field of the Android operating system and more extensively in the field of augmented reality. After the comparative study of the tools supporting the AR technology, Vuforia SDK was chosen and integrated into the implementation structure. The technology of augmented reality has helped create an intelligent and innovative application with tourist and cultural interest. It introduced interaction elements of the virtual to the real environment and enabled the interactivity of the user with his touring process