Congratulations to the Uist Virtual Archaeology Project, which collected three awards at the 2022 Archaeological Achievement Awards last night.
The project, led by the UHI Archaeology Institute’s Dr Rebecca Rennell and Dr Emily Gal, has produced a smartphone app that incorporates 3D augmented reality reconstructions, text, animations and audio to provide up-to-date information on seven archaeological sites between Uist and Benbecula.
At the awards ceremony in Dublin Castle, Ireland, the team collected the awards for Archaeological Innovation and Public Dissemination/Presentation before winning the overall Outstanding Achievement Award.
According to the judging panel: “The Uist Virtual Archaeology Project was an outstanding illustration of innovation, interpretation and engagement. It has brought difficult to reach archaeology into the open using interactive media and storytelling via a new app.
“It is the opinion of the judges that, quite simply, the project has a ‘wow’ factor worthy of being judged the winners of the 2022 Outstanding Archaeological Achivement award.”
Commenting on the awards, Professor Jane Downes, director of the UHI Archaeology Institute, said: “This astonishing achievement by our Archaeology Institute colleagues at UHI Outer Hebrides is very well-deserved.
“Emily and Becky’s incredible app sets a new benchmark in bringing archaeological findings to local communities and wider audiences in an immediate and exciting way.”
The annual Archaeological Achievement Awards are are run by the Council for British Archaeology.
The Uist Virtual Archaeology Project is supported by the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Crown Estate, Stòras Uibhist and UHI Outer Hebrides.
