Digital Survey and Documentation of La Habana Vieja in Cuba

This article deepens the subject of photo-modelling applied to architecture, on a medium and large scale. It in detail deepens the development of the application of a 3D dimensional rendition technology applied to buildings and historical sites that belong to the architectural and cultural heritage of Havana City (Cuba). This article describes the necessary steps to obtain a 3D dimensional textured models from reality through a photographic set. The project aims at providing some new and innovative methods for the Cuban reality. A very interesting topic for the Oficina del Historiador de Ciudad de la Habana, a Cuban public body, that oversees the architectural and cultural heritage of the city. The survey deals with the five squares of Habana Vieja (old town of Havana), through two different ways of working. The first one has a typical technical scientific nature. It elaborates a survey with the combination of various techniques. In this way there is a rendition of a 2D dimensional and 3D dimensional scale model, that includes the urban and architectural information of the squares and their buildings. The second one provides the useful material to create an application just for mobile devices (like smartphone and tablet), for popular, cultural and tourist purposes that can be used offline and online. It is also used as a database in order to create AR (Augmented Reality) applications.