Osaka: Smartphone App Revives CG Images of Naniwa Palace; Digital Rendering of Historic Japanese Capital

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:03 JST, January 11, 2025

OSAKA — Computer images of Naniwa Palace buildings located in present day Osaka, which served as Japan’s capital in the seventh and eighth centuries, are now back via a free smartphone app.

Augmented reality and virtual reality are commonly used methods for visualizing buildings and other historical structures when visiting their ruins. However, hosting a dedicated app requires system maintenance to keep up with updates to the smartphone’s operating system.

Computer graphics of Naniwa Palace’s buildings had been created before, but because the app was not updated, the images had not been used since 2013. The Osaka Museum of History recreated these images and began releasing them to the public via the free downloadable app Styly in November.

Located in Naniwa Palace Ruins Park, the museum offers five QR codes for visitors to find inside and outside the facility. Downloading the app and scanning the codes with their smartphones makes images of the palace appear on the users’ phone screens.

By holding a smartphone over a view of the park, visible from the museum’s 10th floor, visitors can see the entire palace on their phone screens.

“These computer graphics were created based on years of research, and such meaningful work should be made widely available to the public,” said Lee Yangho, a curator of the museum. “These images can help people visualize the results of archaeological research, which is usually not of interest to the general public. So hopefully they can contribute to increasing fans in the field.”