Echoes of the Past, Visions of the Future: 4D digitalization of the Temple of Debod

Abstract. This paper presents an immersive 4D digital platform designed to communicate and critically explore the transformation of the Temple of Debod in Madrid while supporting public understanding of ongoing conservation debates. This platform uses 360º panoramas of strategic points of the Temple. The platform enables “time travel” through three coherent states: the Temple’s original Nubian setting, its current condition in Madrid, and a plausible future scenario in which a protective museum envelope mitigates environmental stress. Rather than offering a conventional virtual tour, the work focuses on the integration of heterogeneous temporal content, reality-based documentation, historically grounded reconstructions, and a speculative yet technically consistent conservation proposal, within a single interactive environment.
The result is a spatio-temporal narrative that makes change, relocation, and conservation choices visible and comparable. By combining immersive navigation, interpretive layers, and transparent scenario-building, the platform reframes documentation as a tool for dialogue: not only about what the monument is, but also about what it has become and what it could be.