The iMARECULTURE research program, which began in 2016 and will be completed in 2019, focuses on raising European citizens' awareness of European identity and how it was shaped by cultural interactions and maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea.
The aim is to connect the public with the inaccessible submerged cultural heritage through modern virtual and augmented reality technologies and through educational games. Most of these games have been developed in a virtual reality environment to inform the general public, but also to educate archaeologists, students and professionals in the technologies and techniques required in submarine excavations without the risk and time pressure of the underwater environment.
The program uses different virtual reality technologies (such as head mount displays, VR caves and holographic displays) to create personalized virtual visits to these sites. Virtual visits can take place in museums, schools, or even at home. At the same time, iMARECULTURE develops underwater augmented reality applications to enhance the experience of divers-visitors in submerged archaeological sites.
Recently, the research program has been publicized by Euronews TV, the Pan-European Information Channel (broadcast in English and in Greek). At the same time, the program explores intellectual and moral rights, in an effort to record problems and limitations, for future reference to similar works related to cultural heritage.
The Cyprus University of Technology participates in this project as a coordinator led by Dr. Dimitrios Skarlatos, Assistant Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geoinformatics, Professor Phaidon Kyriakidis and the researchers, Dr. Elia Frenzo, and the doctoral candidates Panagiotis Agrafiotis, Marinos Vlachos, and George Leventis.
In Greek
https://youtu.be/Ez84-1j1WUM
And in English
https://youtu.be/gNcNkU4aV1I