Imagine being able to explore a 2,000-year-old Roman shipwreck on the Mediterranean seabed — without getting wet. That's essentially what this project built: virtual reality experiences and augmented reality tools that let museum visitors "dive" into underwater archaeological sites from dry land. They also created tablet-based AR for actual divers, so you can point your device at a wreck and see historical context overlaid on what you're seeing. Think of it as Google Street View, but for sunken ships and submerged ancient ports.
Most underwater cultural heritage — ancient shipwrecks, submerged ports, trade route artifacts — is physically inaccessible to 99% of the public. Museums struggle to make these sites engaging without expensive physical replicas, and dive tourism operators have no way to add educational context during an actual dive. This means lost revenue for cultural tourism and missed engagement for heritage sites.
The project built a suite of immersive tools: VR cave experiences and 3D info kiosks for museum dry visits, web-based virtual underwater tours, a tablet-based underwater augmented reality system with waterproof housing for divers, and two serious games — one for simulating ancient Mediterranean sailing and another for underwater excavation — both with social media integration. A total of 39 deliverables were produced including a fully implemented pilot demonstration plan.
If you are a museum or cultural attraction dealing with declining visitor engagement and the challenge of making underwater heritage accessible — this project developed immersive VR cave experiences, 3D info kiosks, and web-based virtual visits that let visitors explore real underwater shipwrecks without diving. The system was piloted across multiple Mediterranean sites with 12 partners from 8 countries.
If you are a dive tourism operator looking to differentiate your offering and attract tech-savvy visitors — this project built underwater augmented reality on a tablet with waterproof housing that overlays historical information on real wreck sites. Divers see context, stories, and archaeological data while exploring, turning a simple dive into an educational experience worth premium pricing.
If you are an educational technology company seeking proven immersive content for history or archaeology curricula — this project created two serious games: one simulating ancient Mediterranean sailing routes, and another simulating underwater shipwreck excavation. Both integrate social media for user interaction and were developed with input from 7 universities across Europe.
The project had a total EU contribution of EUR 2,370,275 spread across 12 partners over roughly 3 years. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated with the coordinator (Cyprus University of Technology). Based on available project data, no commercial pricing model has been published.
The system was designed for multiple deployment scenarios: VR cave installations in museums, 3D info kiosks, web-based virtual visits, and portable underwater AR tablets. The pilot demonstration plan included different scenarios for each type of deployment across multiple sites. Scaling to additional locations would require site-specific 3D data capture.
The project is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funded under Horizon 2020, meaning IP typically remains with the consortium partners who created it. The consortium includes 12 partners from 8 countries, with the Cyprus University of Technology as coordinator. Specific licensing arrangements would need to be discussed with individual partners depending on which component you need.
The project developed multiple access points: VR cave systems require dedicated space and equipment, but 3D info kiosks and web-based virtual visits can integrate with standard museum setups. The underwater AR component uses a commercial tablet in a waterproof housing, keeping hardware requirements relatively simple for the diving application.
Yes. The project produced 39 deliverables including a pilot demonstration plan that was implemented with defined scenarios for each pilot activity. Requirements were settled for local deployment at Mediterranean underwater heritage sites. The project ran from 2016 to 2020, giving the team over 3 years to test and refine.
Underwater cultural heritage sites are typically protected under national and international regulations. Based on available project data, the consortium addressed ethics, rights, and licensing for reusing existing 3D data of underwater shipwrecks and sites. Any commercial deployment would need to comply with local heritage protection laws.
The consortium of 12 partners from 8 countries is heavily academic, with 7 universities driving the research — which means strong scientific foundation but limited commercial push. Only 2 industry partners and 2 SMEs (17% industry ratio) were involved, suggesting the technology may need a commercial partner to bring it to market. The geographic spread across Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Italy, France, Portugal) plus Central European partners (Czech Republic, Hungary) and international reach (Bosnia, Canada) indicates the tools were designed for cross-cultural applicability. The coordinator is the Cyprus University of Technology, which is well-positioned for Mediterranean maritime heritage but would benefit from a tourism or tech industry partner to commercialize the outputs.
Cyprus University of Technology (TECHNOLOGIKO PANEPISTIMIO KYPROU) — contact via university research office or project website
Want to explore licensing iMARECULTURE's VR/AR heritage tools for your museum, dive operation, or edtech platform? SciTransfer can connect you with the right consortium partner and help structure a technology transfer deal.
