The makers of England’s Heritage Cities have just launched an update to their UK travel app, renamed as England Originals. As well as additional destinations, they have now included exciting new features which take advantage of augmented reality technology. You may also spot some recognisable hand drawn illustration too…
Tabletop tours allow users to place a 3D model on a surface using augmented reality, they can then virtually explore each city learning a little about the human history behind some of the most important sites. Designed to be used pre-visit, each short audio story is accompanied by an illustration and placed in the appropriate location on the map, encouraging users to explore and spark an interest in going to these places during their visit. When at the destination, augmented reality ‘portals’ (virtual doorways that can be viewed through a phone or tablet) will give users access to places otherwise off-limits – such as locked rooms, exclusive city views or locations outside of the city centre they may be interested in visiting.
The app also contains a directory of recommended local bars, restaurants, hotels and other attractions for each city.
This is the big project I had been working on during most of the Autumn, creating feature illustrations, building icons, background textures and hand drawn maps for all of the cities… all the puzzle pieces that the agency HEX Digital has then built together into this application. I’m really pleased to see it come to life. If you’re near one of the featured locations or plan a visit soon please take some time and download the app!
