A “time machine” in Thessaloniki… The opportunity to travel back in time and “live” with the help of virtual reality, the torpedoing of the Turkish battleship Fethi Bulent by the then lieutenant Nikolaos Votsis, on October 18, 1912, in the Port of Thessaloniki, will be available from the autumn visitors to the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle.

In particular, they will be able to “walk” on the Greek ship that dropped the torpedoes and experience with the help of technology the daring venture of the Greek crew.

Those who wished from the public were given the opportunity to experience the fully immersive virtual tour, lasting approximately 10 minutes, using a VR treadmill and a VR device (Head Mounted Display) and record their observations.

The digital revival was made possible through the innovative CuRVE system which combines the latest achievements in Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Storytelling (ST) technologies, implemented by the Macedonian Struggle Museum, N-CODE Audio Visual Productions and Information Visualization and Virtual Reality Group of the Wired Telecommunications and Information Technology Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Technology of the University of Patras.

At the event held at the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for the presentation of CuRVE, University professor Konstantinos Moustakas pointed out that the system is special, because it is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration, with a research and artistic component. He added that the application is in a pilot stage and the contributors want to perfect it and expand it.

A short presentation of the virtual reality program was made by Dimitrios Mourtzopoulos from N-CODE. As he said, at first the representation of the terrain was done with the help of satellite photos, he continued the creation of the buildings on the beach front of 1912, crew characters in appropriate attire and script, based on historical research.

Torpedoing

At the event, N-CODE’s Yannos Aiolou also spoke, who emphasized, among other things, that the application for participation in the EPANEK program was submitted in 2017, while the creation of CuRVE began in 2020.

The need for museums to they go fast “next day” and to embellish with technology the experience they offer to their visitors, pointed out Stavroula Mavrogeni, professor at the University of Macedonia, director of the Macedonian History Research and Documentation Center of the Museum Foundation of the Macedonian Struggle and Modern History of Macedonia.

The deputy governor of Thessaloniki, Voula Patoulidou, addressed the event, while the “present” was given by the deputy mayor of Prasinos of the municipality of Thessaloniki, Erotokritos Theotokatos.