Video

Weaste Cemetery Digital Heritage Prototype

An immersive digital heritage prototype created during the Weaste Cemetery Digital Heritage Jam at the University of Salford, using Unity, Blender, and Spatial.io to explore how local history can be experienced through interactive digital spaces.

Media: 5 Updated: Jul 2, 2026 Engine: Unity Platform: PC/Web Status: Prototype

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Mission Brief

This project was created for the Weaste Cemetery Digital Heritage Jam, hosted at the University of Salford in collaboration with Salford City Council. The event invited students to explore how digital technologies could bring the history of Weaste Cemetery to life through immersive technology, digital twins, sound, animation, and games.

The official brief asked teams to develop ideas for presenting the heritage of Weaste Cemetery using digital creative and immersive technologies, with a working prototype as the final output.

Play on Spatial.io:
https://www.spatial.io/s/Weaste-Cemetery-Demo-67f54d4772cf55d3b7251682

Project Breakdown

1 Problem

Weaste Cemetery has important local history, but traditional heritage content can sometimes feel static or difficult to engage with. The challenge was to explore how immersive technology could help people experience the site, its stories, and its atmosphere in a more interactive and accessible way.

2 Your Role

I worked as the game developer, programmer, and immersive/XR developer in the team. My role focused on supporting the Unity and Spatial.io side of the project, helping to build the interactive digital experience and bring the team’s heritage concept into a playable prototype.

3 Tech Stack

Primary stack and delivery surface used in this build.

Unity C# Blender Spatial.io XR Digital Heritage Metaverse Platform

4 Challenges

The main challenge was creating an immersive experience that respected the real heritage site. Because the project was based on a cemetery, the design needed to feel thoughtful and appropriate rather than just game-like. We also had to work within a short jam schedule, combine different team members’ work, and make sure the final prototype could run properly inside Spatial.io.

5 Outcome

The team completed a working digital heritage prototype and published it on Spatial.io. The final result was an explorable digital experience based on Weaste Cemetery, created as part of a University of Salford creative challenge.

6 What You Learned

This project helped me understand how Unity, Blender, and Spatial.io can be used for digital heritage and cultural storytelling. I also improved my experience working in a multidisciplinary team, building prototypes quickly, and designing immersive experiences connected to real-world places.

Development Squad

Ainara Marques

Storyboard and 3D modeler

Ayaan Mohammed

3d Character Designer

Dr Juan Hiriart

Snr Lecturer

Sagor Ahamed

C# Programmer

Tej Patel

3d Modeler

Zhiyi Zhou

Interaction and Graphic Design