The Virtual Illés Initiative

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The Virtual Illés Initiative

VISION

Preserving and visualising hidden histories of Jerusalem

Our understanding of day-to-day life in late Ottoman Jerusalem remains incomplete.

Virtual Illés is a pioneering digital humanities project that aims to compile historical  records and facilitate universal access to uncovered facets of Jerusalem.

 

The project focuses on the Illés Relief (1873), a remarkable miniature model that depicts the Old City and the developing New City at the time of its fabrication. 

 

Stephan Illés (b. 1839), who arrived in Jerusalem in 1864 from Pressbourg (now Bratislava, Slovakia), is our pre-eminent guide to late 19th century Jerusalem.  A book binder by trade, he had a keen eye for detail, a good understanding of how three-dimensional objects are constructed, as well as meticulous craftsmanship.

 

In contrast to two-dimensional classical cartography, the Illés Relief (scale 1:500 – roughly fifteen by sixteen feet or 4.5  by 5 meters) was made in 3D from zinc sheets and mounted on a frame built in eight modular units for transportation  and display.

 

This invaluable historical record has been digitally reconstructed to produce an information-dense and highly interactive resource accessible to international scholars and the global public alike.

SYSTEM DESIGN

Features

The Virtual Illés Initiative is a bespoke immersive mapping system that allows multimedia content to be embedded within a digital Jerusalem. It features a range of modular interactive tools that can be deployed on desktop, VR and immersive museum systems.

Detailed 3D world

Historical map overlays

Interactive archive

Interactive 3D models

Immersive GIS mapping

DOWNLOAD

App download

 

Download the PC app for free on STEAM.

 

Contact us directly for other platforms, including museum display.

PEOPLE

The Virtual Illés Team

Project Director

Dr Maryvelma O'Neil

Founder and Director, Alliance to Revitalize Cultural Heritage in Jerusalem (ARCH)

Immersive Director

Dr Andrew Yip

Lecturer, Immersive Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Advisers

Dr Yuval Ben Bassat, University of Haifa

Dr Johann Büssow, University of Bochum

Dr Michelle U. Campos, Pennsylvania State University

Mr Chandler Collins, PhD candidate, Bar Ilan University

Dr Vincent Lemire
Professor of Contemporary History, Gustave Eiffel University

Dr Roberto Mazza, Executive editor, Jerusalem Quarterly. Independent scholar

Dr Issam Nassar, Illinois State University

Dr Yair Wallach, SOAS, University of London

CONTRIBUTE

Collaborate with us

The Virtual Illés Initiative is an interactive and immersive reconstruction of The Illés Relief (1873), a remarkable miniature model that depicts the Old City of Jerusalem and the developing New City at the time of its fabrication. It is a pioneering digital humanities project that aims to complete historic records of 19th century Jerusalem within an interactive virtual environment.

 

The Virtual Illés Initiative is a bespoke mapping system that features a range of modular interactive tools, such as historical map overlays, interactive archival materials and 3D models, immersive GIS mappings, real time light and more.

 

It is an evolving collaborative project and we welcome contributions from scholars, researchers, students and citizens. We invite you to contribute new documentation and artifacts, other elements of intangible culture, personal glimpses of the living city and memorabilia including diaries, letters, memoirs, and photographs. These contributions will be used to annotate and animate the relief, and to challenge conventional historiographical views of Jerusalem.

Contact us

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