Orange 5G Lab and Historiar: working together to revolutionize cultural tourism with 5G

Published on: 29/04/2025

4mn reading time

Just imagine. You’re standing on the ancient shores of the Punic ports of Carthage, ships bobbing on the water, craftsmen bustling around you in their stalls. You can hear the voices of merchants, the lapping of the waves and even the sound of tools shaping goods ready to cross the Mediterranean. All this is possible thanks to Historiar, a start-up that pushes the limits of 5G to bring history to life as if we were there. 

When 5G lets you immerse yourself in the past

Historiar is first and foremost the project of two women: Houda Bakir, CEO and CTO, who holds a PhD in image processing and AI, and Jihed Makni, CMO, a graduate of HEC Tunisia and the University of Bologna in tourism management. In 2019, they set themselves an ambitious challenge: to dust off cultural heritage thanks to immersive technologies. They founded Historiar (which means “to tell” in Portuguese) to enable us, literally, to travel back in time.

Behind this ambition, however, lies a real technological challenge. “Historiar uses an augmented reality and virtual reality mobile application to explore archaeological sites like never before,” explains Houda Bakir. The challenge? To offer users a fluid, immersive and, above all, realistic experience for exploring archaeological sites such as Carthage. To meet this challenge, Historiar found a major ally: Orange 5G Lab Tunis.

This is where 5G comes in:

5G has enabled more advanced 3D models, advanced functionalities, animations and audio. It has made the user experience smoother and more realistic.
As Afef Boulares, manager of the Orange start-up gas pedal and Orange 5G Lab, explains

Thanks to 5G, Historiar’s voluminous models can be hosted in the cloud and displayed almost instantaneously on visitors’ devices, without latency or loss of quality. An essential asset for total immersion, especially as the Historiar experience is not limited to a static, cinema-set display: each scene comes to life with sophisticated animations, voice interaction in different languages and contextual information in real time. 

Support from Orange 5G Lab Tunis

The partnership between Historiar and Orange began in 2020, first via Orange Fab and then with Orange 5G Lab Tunis. “When Houda presented us with her mobile app project, she was at the very beginning of her product, on the reconstruction of the Punic port,” recalls Afef. And so began a long-term partnership to support the start-up through the various phases of its development. “Thanks to the pre-acceleration we achieved with Orange Fab, we were able to develop a high-performance MVP* in collaboration with Orange 5G Lab Tunis. Then we worked together on the cloud, the 3D models and the UX/UI optimization of our application” develops Houda. 

To support this initial acceleration phase, Orange 5G Lab is providing its technical expertise, infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment. “Historiar was able to take advantage of Orange’s 5G network, 5G-compatible smartphones and VR headsets, as well as Orange servers to host and optimize the rendering of 3D models,” explains Houda. At the same time, work is also being carried out with Orange 5G Lab teams on the user journey, to guarantee a fluid and intuitive experience, but also on the business model to end up with a marketable and scalable solution. “Orange 5G Lab’s contribution has been technical, notably via the network and equipment, but it has also been on the business model to arrive at a usable and saleable product” emphasizes Afef. Since 2023, the start-up has benefited from increased visibility thanks to its exposure within Orange 5G Lab Tunis. This opportunity has enabled it to forge strategic partnerships and accelerate its expansion. 

International ambitions and promising prospects

With over 3,000 users and plans underway to expand to European historic sites in Rome, Marseille, Vienna and Portugal, Historiar intends to keep up the momentum. “We believe in the long-term development of Historiar. It’s a solution that has its place on the international stage”, says Afef. Led by two female founders, the start-up also embodies a vision of diversity that resonates with Orange’s values: “Houda and Jihed are women entrepreneurs, and at Orange, we support all talents. When we find the right people, we support them all the way”, Afef emphasizes. 

What’s next? Historiar plans ongoing technical improvements, notably via the addition of an interactive chatbot and a mobile payment system to further enrich the user experience thanks to 5G. On the commercial side, the start-up is exploring other sectors such as education, developing immersive content on history, science and geography. Entertainment is also one of the levers for expansion, with the integration of interactive experiences at cultural events. The first concrete example of this is a mountain bike race organized by a partner in the insurance sector, where participants were able to explore historic sites via a unique digital immersion experience. 

Historiar is already attracting major players, including the Orange Foundation, with whom it has signed a contract for the creation of a MOOC on Carthage. Proof that, with the right support, technology doesn’t just bring the past back to life: it also shapes the future.

*MVP : Minimum Viable Product 