Visitors to the Allard Pierson Museum will get to partake in an exhibit showcasing ancient Rome through augmented reality.

In "A Future for the Past," a swiveling iMac superimposes buildings and text onto two large pictures/murals. Tricks like this one are not new to advertising, but rarely have we noticed the principles of augmented reality making their way into public spaces.

But while the museum's application is promising from a technical standpoint, from what I can tell in this clip, the user isn't getting much information from the computer screen that couldn't have been placed into the original image. Still, the exhibit is far more interactive than if its visitors were just reading a sign. [Allard Pierson Museum via Engadget]