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Although Jerusalem is one of the most photographed places in the world, few works have focused on the existence of its former 800-year-old Maghrebi Quarter, located in the shadow of the Western Wall. Founded in 1193 by Saladin's son, al-Afdal Ali to house Muslim pilgrims from North Africa (today Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya), the Quarter was razed by Israeli bulldozers on the night of 10-11 June 1967. Its 1,000 or so inhabitants were forced to flee within hours. Silenced by the occupation of East Jerusalem as part of the Six-Day War, the existence of the Maghrebi Quarter faded behind the walls of history. This research paper describes how 55 years after its razing, the selection of a corpus of archives, combined with 3D technology and Interprofessional collaborations between historians and 3D designers enable making a forgotten history accessible again. Beyond a discussion on methods and technical process, this research paper aims to highlight the potential applications of the data set and the 3D model not only for scholarly research but also for pedagogical purposes, for instance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, the popularity of video games has been increasing thanks to their unique ability to engage their audience and create empathy. Among them, serious games have additional purposes besides entertainment, such as learning and behaviour change. Serious games, in fact, have been successfully applied to different fields, including education, health, tourism, and cultural heritage. In this context, the paper describes a novel serious game developed for increasing awareness and promoting the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH). In particular, the paper focuses on the Dive in the Past Serious Game which allows users to simulate a virtual dive into the Mediterranean Sea to explore accurate and life-sized 3D reconstructions of underwater archaeological sites. The purpose of the game is twofold: to engage diver and non-diver tourists into a virtual interactive exploration of underwater sites through digital storytelling and challenges; to increase awareness and knowledge on Mediterranean UCH. This work has been carried out in the context of the MeDryDive project, an EU co-funded under the COSME Programme, which aims to create personalized dry dive experiences for the promotion of Mediterranean UCH sites as distinctive tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the i-MareCulture and Lab4Dive projects, an international partnership is developing different technologies for both in-situ and virtual underwater exploration. In particular, an underwater tablet dedicated to the archaeological sites is being developed to improve the recreational diving experience and support the research activities conducted by the archaeological divers. This tablet allows the diver to recognize his position in the underwater site, to acquire geo-localized photos and notes and to visualize the hypothetical reconstruction of the underwater remains through the augmented reality. In addition, it has been realized a virtual diving application that enables every user to explore some different underwater archaeological sites of the Mediterranean Sea without the need to conduct a proper dive. This virtual visit can be enjoyed by means of different Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), such as the HTC Vive, the Samsung Gear VR or the Google Daydream, exploiting the features of these devices to interact with the virtual environment. During the visit, additional information can be obtained playing some videos realized with the typical approach of the storytelling and a 360° field of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]