Local innovator Darin Smyth, in partnership with Belfast Metropolitan College, has developed a new immersive digital experience, Maritime Echoes: An AI Voyage to the Past, bringing local historical figures from Belfast’s maritime past to life using the latest AI technology and Unreal Engine 3D creation software.  

The Maritime Echoes project is one of six prototypes funded by the £120,000 Belfast HUB-IN Challenge Fund which is being delivered by Belfast City Council’s City Innovation Office in partnership with the Maritime Belfast Trust to harness digital innovation to help animate and enrich the city’s Maritime Mile.

Councillor Tina Black, innovator Darin Smyth and Jenna Crymble from Maritime Belfast Trust
Councillor Tina Black, innovator Darin Smyth, and Jenna Crymble from Maritime Belfast Trust

The new immersive experience enables visitors to engage in ‘conversations’ with pioneer of Belfast shipbuilding, William Ritchie; chairman of Harland and Wolff during the Titanic era, Lord Pirrie; social reformer, Mary Ann McCracken; Captain Henry Ralph Crooke, who led HMS Caroline during the Battle of Jutland; and a linen mill worker from the early 20th century. 

Darin worked with staff and students at Belfast Metropolitan College to develop digital versions of the historical figures using AI and Unreal Engine software.

Project partners and support

This project has been supported by a range of organisations and community groups along the Maritime Mile.

  • Belfast Metropolitan College including students studying Foundation Degree in Digital Art and Animation for Visual Effects and Virtual Production, and Higher National Diploma Visual Effects
  • Belfast City Council’s City Innovation Office
  • Maritime Belfast Trust

More information

Find out more about the Belfast HUB-IN Challenge Fund at www.smartbelfast.city/story/belfast-hub-in-funding.

Find out more about Belfast’s Maritime Mile at www.maritime-mile.com.

The Belfast HUB-IN project is part of a €7.9 million European initiative that aims to transform historic urban areas through innovation and spread public benefits from urban regeneration. It’s funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869429.