Augmented Reality: Micro-Exhibitions for Public Archaeology in Makati, Philippines

Gamaliel J. Domingo

Museums have traditionally mediated the public communication of archaeological knowledge, yet opportunities for sustained, place-based engagement with the past beyond institutional settings remain uneven across socio economic and geographic contexts. This paper presents NakARaan, a practice led digital heritage initiative exploring augmented reality micro exhibitions as a model for public archaeology beyond museum environments. Focusing on Barangay Poblacion in Makati, Philippines, the historic core of early San Pedro Macati, the project uses archival photographs from 1898 to 1900 as anchors for three-dimensional reconstruction and mobile AR visualization. Installed as printed images in neighbourhood cafés within Poblacion, these function as site responsive interfaces that situate digital reconstructions within the same historic landscape. A key example is the Pasig River sequence, where users inhabit a first-person perspective from a reconstructed casco boat, revealing patterns of settlement, mobility, and human environment interaction. Additional reconstructions include the San Pedro Macati Church, a lost bell tower, and a site used as headquarters by Brigadier General Charles King during the Philippine American War. Delivered via WebAR, the system lowers barriers to participation and supports self-guided engagement. This approach foregrounds local narratives, complementing broader museum frameworks while extending engagement into community spaces. The project demonstrates how design decisions shape the visualisation and interpretation of archaeological knowledge. While grounded in early modern heritage, this approach is transferable to prehistoric communication, offering scalable methods for interpreting fragmentary evidence, reconstructing lifeways, and communicating human environment relationships across diverse Indo Pacific contexts.