The Municipality of Kavaja, in the role of one of the partners of the MeDryDive project, on April 28, 2021, held a local national event focusing on the promotion of underwater cultural heritage and the creation of sustainable tourist destinations for countries near the Mediterranean coast where Albania is part.
The purpose of this event was the presentation of the MeDryDive project, VR & AR applications and the 3D Virtual Game “Dive in the Past”, which are the newest digital applications built thanks to this project, to stakeholders as specialists in the field of culture and underwater cultural heritage, specialists in the field of tourism, digital technology and innovation, tour operators and representatives of hotel businesses, universities, tourist guides, representatives of the National Archaeological Museum, as well as state institutions responsible for underwater cultural heritage and tourism.
Due to the restrictive measures from pandemic Covid 19, the closing activity of this 2-year project took place with a limited number of people from interest groups who through an official invitation from the Municipality of Kavaja were invited to participate in this event which took place in a conference hall in one of the most visited hotel by the tourist in the coastline of Kavaje.
The following topics were presented and discussed at the event based on an agenda:
1. Technologies used and approaches of the MeDryDive project to promote accessible underwater cultural heritage sites, such as Oreste shipwreck (Montenegro), Underwater Park of Baya(Italy), Alonsos shipwreck(Greece), Peristera (Greece) , Gnalic shipwreck (Croatia).
2. Use of CCI applications, such as MeDryDive VR by demonstrating live use of this application using the 3D glasses produced by this project to experience the feeling of immersion but in a virtual dimension; MeDryDive AR application, where through a leaflet and scan option you can reconstruct in 3D the underwater assets of the pilot sites selected in the project.
3. Examples of promotion and protection of accessible underwater cultural heritage sites by adapting and comparing with follow on sites of Albania selected in the project.
4. Feedback of stakeholders for the promotion of Albanian underwater cultural heritage sites through the application of new technologies, as future pilot sites taking the example of sites that are part of the MeDryDive project. Furthermore, a virtual educational game belonging to the genre Serious Game entitled “Diving into the past” was introduced, suitable for young people, children and their parents. During the presentation of the game promotional video and technical assistance by an expert the game Dive in the Past was downloaded for free for Android and iOS devices, where attendees began to have fun but at the same time realized that underwater archaeology has already turned into a video game with the aim of creating an international tourism product that presents the underwater archaeological heritage in a leading role, promoting awareness for its protection and expansion, as well as bringing young people closer to the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
