BACK TO THE ROOTS

BACK TO THE ROOTS 

It is a serious game, that explores and digitally reconstruct the roots of relocated charitable Ottoman sabīl (water dispensary) wa-kuttāb (Quran elementary school) of Ismāʿīl al-Maghlawī, in historic Cairo, dated to 1657 AD. Being in Ḥārit al-Badrī as lieu de memoire, the sabīl was relocated, in 1939, from its original location, at the Khān al-Khalīlī Street. It used to have an underground cistern, filled yearly with pure water from the Nile River and provide water to passersby from its window’s water dispensary room. Building on site visits, data collection, 3D modelling, players navigate freely in this virtual environment. Through interactive quests, using Unity game engine, they recognize sabīl’s architecture, its elements and spatial transformation, that take place and help in bringing the sabīl back to life again. To enhance their experience, the game reveals sabīl’s water path and its connectivity with social aspects, in which players meet characters like saqqayīn (water carriers) and al-mizammilātī (responsible of sabīl). To improve immersivity and moving beyond visual reconstruction, the authors acknowledge the importance of acoustics documentation and reconstruction, through accomplishing acoustics survey, obtaining impulse response and performing auralization, using Odeon (ver.13). 

BACK TO THE ROOTS includes three scenarios: Ismāʿīl al-Maghlawī, the water carrier and al-mizammilātī. The first two scenarios are under construction, while players could play the third one.

 BACK TO THE ROOTS is available online  or you could download it, for better acoustic experience.

FOR PLAYING ONLINE

1.  Use the FULL SCREEN option, at the button right. 
2. Press r on the keyboard for better rotation and cursor lock.
3. Press c on the keyboard to unlock the cursor.
4. Use left click to interact 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

- Aliaa El-Dardiry (designed and developed the game as part of her Masters thesis Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport): illustrations, scenarios and script writing, 3D modeling, simulation design, game design and development in Unity game engine 
- Ahmed El Antably (Professor of Architecture, Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport): supervisor
- Ahmed Ali Ahmed Elkhateeb (Professor of Architecture and Building Science, Ain Shams University): supervisor and responsible of acoustic reconstruction 
- Ahmed Abo El Fadl: voice casting (al-Shihabi Ahmed and the water carrier) 
- Ahmed Wallan: voice casting (al-Mizammilati) 

ACKNOWLEDGEMNT 

We acknowledge the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for providing access to the site. Additionally, they appreciate the effort done by the Acoustic Lab at Ain Shams University for supplying the necessary equipment and expertise, the Acoustic Research and Tests Unit (ARTU) in the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, King Abdulaziz University, KSA. The authors are grateful to their colleagues in the Research on Architectural Media (RAM) Lab for their constructive criticism and continuous support.