Nineteenth-Century Andruszewski's manor house real-time 3D presentation

The 3D virtual tour was created based on sketches, photographs, and stories from its last resident.

The 19th-century Andruszewski manor house burned down in 1944. The only remnant of the former residence are traces of its foundation. The production of the 3D virtual tour (both interior and exterior) was based on sketches, photographs, reports, and archaeological research.

The virtual reconstruction project of this historic Manor presented a unique challenge, combining elements of historical investigation, 3D modeling, and interactive presentation of cultural heritage.

Reconstruction Process

The foundation of the project was detailed research work, including consultations with the last living witness of the manor's history and descendants of the owner's family. Equally important was conducting an on-site inspection of the location where the building once stood. The reconstruction process was based on the analysis of available historical materials, including sketches, diaries, and archival photographs.

The greatest challenge proved to be precisely locating the places captured in preserved photographs and faithfully recreating the original interior layout. The difficulty was compounded by the limited number of photographs taken inside the manor, which additionally showed discrepancies with the sketches. During the work, it was discovered that some photographs were likely mirror-reversed from their negatives, which initially led to confusion during the reconstruction process.

Technical Implementation

The project was completed using advanced 3D modeling and texturing techniques. Special attention was paid to:

• Precise reconstruction of interior arrangements
• Building a comprehensive 3D scene
• Lightmapping
• Implementation of mechanics and interactive elements
• Space sound design

Optimization and Accessibility

An important technical aspect was compressing the rich 3D content along with the sound layer to just 36 MB, which significantly reduced the application's loading time in the browser. The user interface was designed with accessibility in mind, allowing graphics quality adjustment to match hardware capabilities, thus ensuring smooth operation even on older computers.

The application was made available in two versions:

• As an interactive tour accessible through a web browser
• As a standalone PC application