Age-Old Cities VR

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Created for the exhibition Age-Old Cities: A Virtual Journey from Palmyra to Mosul at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (2018), the VR experience presents six iconic monuments of the Arab world:

Palmyra's Temple of Baalshamîn and the Souk of Aleppo in Syria;

the Basilica of Leptis Magna in Libya;

the Al-Nuri Mosque, the Nabi Yunus Tunnels, and the Church of Our Lady of the Hour in Mosul, Iraq.

Ubisoft partnered with Iconem, UNESCO, and the University of Lausanne to create these immersive and realistic reconstitutions. Iconem, with the help of UNESCO and other partners, digitized the sites in 3D to produce photorealistic replicas of the monuments. Ubisoft leveraged its expertise in interactive entertainment to bring them to life: sound effects, sunlight, clouds of dust, and flocks of birds contribute to the astonishing sensation of standing inside the Basilica of Leptis Magna or walking through the ruins of the Aleppo Souk.

Age-Old Cities VR presents the sites as they were digitized by Iconem in 2018. The Al-Nuri Mosque, with its leaning minaret, was the most iconic building in Mosul. Built between 1170 and 1172, it was destroyed on June 21, 2017, by the Islamic State.

The destruction of the Temple of Baalshamîn in Palmyra by the Islamic State in 2015 shocked the world. Over 2,000 years old, this sanctuary was originally dedicated to the god Baalshamîn, before being converted into a church in the 5th century. Researchers from the University of Lausanne, under the direction of Patrick M. Michel, collaborated with Iconem to create an extremely precise reproduction of the site based on the archives of archaeologist Paul Collart — even resurrecting the tree that once grew inside.

Leptis Magna, by contrast, has not suffered destruction despite the conflict in Libya. Little known to the general public, this Roman city is one of the best-preserved in the world, yet it now faces threats from looting, neglect, and the encroaching sea.

Like the exhibition it accompanies, Age-Old Cities VR seeks to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving historic sites by taking visitors on a journey through time and space into the heart of places that have been destroyed or are now inaccessible.