Combining real-life, hands-on activities with a captivating AR and VR journey to create a unique immersive blend of history and technology.
On September 15, 2024, Skopje in North Macedonia hosted an innovative event titled, ‘Time Travel with Queen Maria – A Gamified Journey to the Middle Ages’. This immersive experience seamlessly blended real-life, hands-on activities with captivating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), offering a remarkable fusion of history and technology. Participants were transported back to the 14th century, where they were introduced to the life and times of Queen Maria Palaiologina, exploring her arrival at the royal palace in Skopje. This extraordinary adventure brought the medieval heritage of Skopje to life, unfolding before visitors’ eyes.
The gamified experience was filled with mystery, puzzles, and quests set against the iconic backdrop of Skopje Fortress. It engaged participants of all ages, making history not just informative but also interactive and entertaining. The event featured a beta version of a mobile AR application developed as part of the ‘SheLeadersVR’ project, enhancing the historical narrative with innovative technology.
To conclude the experience, attendees immersed themselves in a virtual reality (VR) segment, exploring a 3D-reconstructed version of the medieval palace at Skopje Fortress—one of the project’s key achievements. Equipped with VR headsets, participants navigated through the palace in a video game-like format, solving puzzles to uncover a hidden artifact tied to the medieval ruler Maria Palaiologina.
Organised by Storytelling Skopje and HAEMUS in partnership with the Museum of Macedonia, the event was part of the European Heritage Days and served as a dissemination effort for the European project ‘SheLeadersVR,’ supported by the Creative Europe programme. This event exemplified how history can be made engaging and accessible through innovative storytelling and cutting-edge technology, setting a new standard for heritage interpretation.
Vasilka Dimitrovska is IE’s Country Coordinator North Macedonia and an IE certified interpretive trainer. She is the director of HAEMUS – Center for Scientific Research and Promotion of Culture (www.haemus.org.mk), and the owner of Storytelling Skopje (www.storytelling-skopje.com). She can be contacted at: dimitrovska@haemus.org.mk.
To cite this article: Dimitrovska, Vasilka (2024) ‘Time Travel with Queen Maria: Innovative storytelling and cutting- edge technology’ in Interpret Europe Newsletter 3-2024, pg.21.
Available online: PDF-Newsletter_2024_3.pdf
