What is Historistage:

Historistage is an Augmented Reality enabled experience currently being developed for heritage sites, theatres and museums to enhance their visitor experience. 

Historistage is a combination of a beautifully crafted tactile physical model that visitors stumble upon which acts as a backdrop for an AR Experience that can be experienced through a smartphone after scanning the model. 

Using dynamic AR to bring about the lost architectural aspects and hidden histories that can be found within the UK. The UK has some of the richest theatrical histories in the world, with these usually revolving around listed heritage spaces. Some of those spaces have either been lost or changed over time as the spaces are repurposed or reused over time.

Augmented Reality brings with it the ability to give snapshots back into particular moments of historical time. It is a powerful tool to view the historical past in revealing or layered ways. AR can be powerful in many ways, but it is exceptionally good at taking architectural elements and allows scenes to play out leaving room for creative interpretation or suggestion. 

Project background:

First conceptualised as a part of the Creative Informatics Funded project of 2022, the Historistage project is a collaboration with Stuart Smith-Gordon and his company Ice Cream at the Interval; an award-winning business specialising in illustrated theatres and models.

‘Ice Cream at the Interval’ was set up during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. Due to missing the theatre it was created as a way of connecting with these incredible spaces that are home to it. The result was a series of illustrations and model kits that celebrated the beautiful stages which are currently being sold on Etsy.

Our collaboration on this project combines these 3D physical models with SENSEcitys AR abilities enhancing the users experience with the rich stories that are brought to life about these spaces. Our team focuses on creating high quality visual and audio content which compliments the visual style of the 3D models. We are also focused on creating accurate and authentic narratives when translating them into these AR experiences.

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