The iMARECULTURE Project: A Virtual Journey Through Underwater Cultural Heritage

Projekat iMARECULTURE: Virtuelno putovanje kroz podvodno kulturno naslijeđe

Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 12:31

The final presentation of the iMARECULTURE Horizon 2020 research project was held on Monday, 28 October 2019 at the University of Sarajevo Rectorate. During the presentation, the Project results and demo-created Dry visits applications were presented, which could help visit underwater archeological sites and their reconstructions in virtual reality. Attendants, including “Obala” Sarajevo High School, had the opportunity to try applications and plunge into the virtual world of underwater treasure.

In addition to the significant results obtained by this project in the virtual reality application development, its importance is in being the first University of Sarajevo research project under the European Research and Innovation Program - Horizon 2020.

Prof. Dr. Dženana Husremović, University of Sarajevo Vice-Rector for Research, pointed out that the iMARECULTURE project is the best example of working on an interdisciplinary project, which is reflected in the contextualization of advanced technology in the protection of cultural heritage. “Such projects enable all citizens in Europe to understand our cultural heritage, especially in the context of a European identity, without specifically having to be divers” said Vice-Rector Husremović.
She also emphasized that today, when this project successfully presents the results of the research team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the University of Sarajevo has recorded a significant increase in participation in research projects through the H2020 program and assumes a leading position among the BiH institutions participating in this program, with a total of 9 projects.

Project Coordinator for the University of Sarajevo, Prof. Dr. Selma Rizvić said that Horizon 2020 was the most prestigious project in the research world and that it had brought many scientific references, valuable equipment and enabled cooperation with significant partners from the European research community.
“We did interactive digital storytelling for underwater cultural heritage stories, because the project aims to bring that kind of heritage to the general public through the internet” she explained.
She emphasized that underwater cultural heritage is the only one that citizens cannot see, except for underwater archaeologists, and that the public is informed about these sites exclusively from photographs.

Horizon 2020 iMARECULTURE project - Advanced VR, iMmersive serious games and Augmented REality as tools to raise awareness and access to European underwater CULTURal heritagE aimed at making the wealth of underwater cultural heritage accessible to the public through digital technologies. Sarajevo Graphics Group, a research laboratory at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo, was responsible for interactive digital storytelling within the consortium.

The iMARECULTURE project had a total budget of € 2.6 million. Through the project activities, 3 selected underwater locations were presented: Mazotos in Cyprus, Xlendi in Malta and Baiae in Italy. Mazotos and Xlendi preserve the wreckage of the wreck, and Baiae is an underwater archeological park that houses the remains of an entire city and port with Roman buildings, mosaics and statues.

The project also developed virtual reality applications that allow visitors to “dive” and explore underwater archeological sites and view stories where actors play scenes from the past within 3D reconstructions. These applications will be available at the final Project presentation, and visitors will have the opportunity to take a virtual journey through underwater cultural heritage.

During the last 3 years the following collaborators worked on the project:
Expert team for interactive digital storytelling: Prof. Fahira Fejzić-Čengić, Prof. Bojan Hadžihalilović, Prof. Ahmed Imamović, M.Sc. Fatmir Alispahić, Prof. Nermin Đapo, Prof. Vensada Okanović, Prof. Dušanka Bošković
Production team: actors Selma Alispahić, Boris Balta, Amar Selimović, Senad Alihodžić, Lukas Maier, Ajas Alispahić, Anur Imamović, narrators: Amira Sadiković and June Smith, production assistants: Ahmed Karavdić, Emina Zubčević, translator Sabina Nikšić, programmer Sanda Muno, teleprompter Muharem Osmić, tone: Vanja Kurtović, composer and music producer Adnan Mušanović, costume designer Adisa Vatreš-Selimović, makeup: Naida Đekić, graphic design: Enis Čišić, Mirsad Festa, Aida Sadžak, Ena Čabrić and Džana Torlak Hulusić, cinematographer: Bojan Mijatović, editor: Vanja Mijatović, editor: Vanja Mijatović, Ahmed Imamović and producer Selma Rizvić.
Administrative Team: Nina Begović, Meliha Bajraktarević, Renato Scuzzarello
UNSA Project Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Selma Rizvić

Sarajevo Graphics Group iMARECULTURE storytelling showreel: