Augmented Reality and Gaming Technology for Maritime Heritage Tourism: An Immersive Experience along Ireland’s Coast

ct: The integration of gaming technology with augmented reality (AR) offers opportunities for enhancing tourism experiences, particularly in the area of cultural heritage. This project explores the development of an AR application using game technology such as the Unreal Engine, integrated with ARCore (Android) and ARKit (Apple), aimed at attracting international tourists to Ireland’s significant maritime locations. The application’s aim is to immerse users in the country’s rich coastal heritage through interactive storytelling, visual media, and 3D digital replicas of historically significant boats, scanned and rendered for real-time AR viewing. By blending historical education with immersive technology, the project seeks to both engage and educate tourists, transforming their visits into interactive learning experiences. <br/>The application’s multimedia approach including text narratives, archival images, and maps adds additional storytelling layers, creating an engaging tourist experience that encourages users to explore Ireland’s maritime tradition. This approach aligns with contemporary digital storytelling trends, where layers of content contribute to richer, more immersive tourism experiences. Furthermore, by promoting lesser-known sites along Ireland’s coast, this project also aims to support sustainable tourism practices by helping to distribute visitor traffic more evenly across the region, thus preserving both the cultural and natural landscape. <br/>In demonstrating AR’s potential to reimagine cultural heritage experiences, this project contributes to the broader discourse on digital technology in heritage tourism. Through AR and gaming technology, it not only modernizes the way tourists experience maritime history but also promotes Ireland as an innovative destination in global tourism