Cultural Heritage
Tanit XR
Cultural Heritage
I started Tanit XR in 2025 to protect the Tunisian heritage I grew up with. We named it after Tanit, the Carthaginian goddess of protection, because that's exactly what we do.
Volunteers in Tunisia scan statues, mosaics, stelae and carved stones with their phones, one object at a time. Volunteers around the world clean up the scans and turn them into free 3D models, AR lessons and our virtual museum. Everything we make is open and free, because heritage belongs to everyone.
We started as an archive and became a community: 85+ volunteers on four continents meet every week to review scans, learn Tunisian history and help each other. So far we've published more than 100 models, and I was so happy when Niantic Spatial interviewed me about our scans at El Jem!
We also teach. Our free Splats With Phones course shows anyone how to scan with the phone in their pocket. I honestly can't believe how far this little idea has come, and it's all thanks to our amazing volunteers.
Meet Nura
Nura floats beside you in the collection and tells you the story of each object. Pick one above, or step into the full experience on tanitxr.org.
Explore with Nura
Community
Tanit XR is 85+ volunteers in Tunisia, the United States, Europe and Nigeria. We meet every Thursday at 12 pm Eastern (5 pm in Tunisia) to review scans, plan trips and help each other.
Volunteers who have never been to Tunisia learn its history while modeling lamps, pottery and plants for our virtual museum, and we learn about theirs. That cultural exchange is the heart of it. So far our volunteers have modeled 34 objects by hand, like Rachel West's murex shell and Claire Natanek's Tunisian lamps.
How it works
Objects, one at a time, with our phones: the Punic stela of the Tophet of Salammbo, the Corinthian capital of Byrsa Hill, the mihrab niche of the medina of Tunis, carved fragments with inscriptions.
Explore them in 3D →The Unique Mappers Network, 500+ citizen scientists in Nigeria founded by Victor Sunday, is replicating the Tanit XR model with a mini-grant from our fiscal sponsor. Their first 50 scans are due before the end of 2026.
Unique Mappers →Dr. Laura Harrison is our Chief Scientist and Dr. Caroline Nickerson leads partnerships and community. My sister Melek Said is our regional manager in Tunisia. Our fiscal sponsor is Florida Community Innovation, a US 501(c)(3).
Meet the team →
The first community-led virtual museum of Tunisian heritage. Real scanned objects, life-size, in hand-modeled whitewashed rooms. Built in Unity by our volunteers.
Every object our volunteers scanned, in your browser. Turn it with a finger, hear Nura tell its story, save your favorites, or put on a headset.
A climate installation where you see a damaged world alone, and a restored one the moment you hold someone's hand.
Let's work together
I'd love to hear about it! Whether you want to scan a collection or build something in XR, let's talk.