Bringing a treetop walk’s history to life
For a treetop walk in Switzerland, we recreated the history of the place as an interactive journey. Life size characters from the past appear on the path in augmented reality, and tell their stories. Almost every visitor rents a tablet to experience it.
- CLIENT
- A treetop walk attraction in Switzerland
- INDUSTRY
- Tourism and heritage
- WHAT WE BUILT
- Interactive history in AR and VR
- WHERE IT RUNS
- Rental tablets on the path, plus VR
- Almost all visitorsRent a tablet to explore the history
- 3 techniques testedSide by side, before building
- Life size charactersPeople from the past, captured in 3D
- AR and VRTwo ways to experience the same story
A beautiful place, with an invisible past
A treetop walk is a beautiful place to visit, but the history behind it is invisible to people walking through the forest canopy.
Signs and plaques struggle to hold attention, especially for families and younger visitors.
The attraction wanted visitors to meet the past: real people telling their stories, right where they happened.
Let history walk beside you
We recreated the history of the treetop walk as an interactive, game like journey in AR and VR.
- 01
Pick the right way to bring people back
Before building, we tested three techniques side by side: an animated 3D avatar, filmed video, and volumetric capture.
THE CHALLENGEDigital people often look stiff or fake, and that breaks the story instantly.HOW WE SOLVED ITWe compared all three in a real test and chose volumetric capture, which records a real person in full 3D. - 02
Real people, in full 3D
Characters appear life size on the path. Visitors can walk around them and see them from every angle.
THE CHALLENGEVolumetric recordings are heavy, and tablets have limited power.HOW WE SOLVED ITWe optimised every recording so it plays smoothly on a tablet, outdoors. - 03
History as a game
The route becomes an interactive journey with stops to discover and stories to unlock.
THE CHALLENGEKeeping families engaged from the first stop to the last.HOW WE SOLVED ITWe designed the journey like a game, so every stop rewards visitors with something new. - 04
On the path in AR, at home in VR
Visitors use tablets for AR along the walk, and the same story is available in VR.
THE CHALLENGETwo very different formats had to tell one consistent story.HOW WE SOLVED ITWe built the characters and content once, then adapted them for both AR and VR.
How visitors meet the past
Almost every visitor now rents a tablet to explore the treetop walk’s history in an interactive, game like way.
- Real people, real stories, right where they happened
- A technique chosen from side by side tests, not guesswork
- Runs on rental tablets, so visitors need no app of their own
Watch it in action
Our technique test for the project: an animated 3D avatar, filmed video, and a full volumetric capture, compared side by side.
Inside the project
What it is built with
Want visitors to meet your history?
We bring places, museums and heritage sites to life. Start with a 2 to 3 week Prototype Sprint, or book a call.