A new project led by Professor Erol Duran from the Tourism Faculty of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University will transform the Çanakkale Strait into a digital cultural heritage route using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies.
The “Çanakkale Strait Cultural Heritage Maritime Route Project” aims to digitally recreate key cultural heritage sites along the strait through immersive applications. The research team includes Associate Professor Hasan Gül from the Ezine Food Specialization Organized Industrial Zone Vocational School and lecturer Bahattin Hamarat from the Tourism Faculty.
The project has received 2.4 million Turkish Liras in funding under the 1001 Scientific and Technological Research Projects Support Program of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye.
Through a newly developed application titled “Dardanell-E,” visitors on boat tours covering the Çanakkale Strait will be able to watch three-dimensional simulations of historical events using VR headsets. Among the 50 historical and cultural elements featured in the project are the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, the bridge built by Persian King Xerxes I by tying boats together, the Trojan War and the Gallipoli Campaign.
At designated points, AR applications will project past appearances of historical structures onto mobile device screens. The application is planned to be launched this summer.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Duran said the project aims to present the geological formation process of the Çanakkale Strait along with its historical layers through digital storytelling.
He noted that the route follows a narrative extending from the Troas period to the Ottoman and Republican eras. The historic bridge commissioned by Xerxes I and the modern 1915 Çanakkale Bridge will be digitally recreated in a comparative format.
Duran added that the VR experience will simulate the formation of the strait 12,000 years ago and introduce major historical phases and key figures from Troy to the Republic.
Designed to integrate with commercial tour boats, the system will allow operators to use VR headsets according to passenger capacity. “The application has a structure that can be integrated with different tourism projects,” Duran said.
