The agora of ancient Smyrna rebuilt in virtual world and came to life with latest VR tech.
"Our Province İzmir Association", a nonfunding organization carrying out cultural heritage projects in İzmir, has reached out to us to develop a virtual reality application for the latest CFCU project they were approved for. The subject was the archaeological site in the hearth of İzmir. Roman agora of ancient Smyrna.
İzmir (Smyrna) is a metropolis located at the western extremity of Turkey. She has more than 8500 years of history since the Neolithic period.
The ancient agora of Smyrna is one of the main tourist hotspots in the immediate vicinity of the historical bazaar Kemeralti.
Archaeologists, 3D generalists and game developers have teamed up to create one of the most accurate representations any archaeological site in virtual reality. To this end, our archaeology team worked closely with the scientists from the archaeological excavation team. We visited the ancient site occasionally to capture details from the ruins. We knew we were up to the challenge, considering that only two of the four main agora buildings were partially excavated (the other two are underground today) and only the basements were preserved.
New character creation technology from Epic Games, Metahuman Creator, extremely helped us to create character meshes and materials. We optimized materials and hair in order to be playable in VR environment.