The French castle of Amboise has since February 1st replaced all its audio tour guides for 400 HistoPads, tablets with extensive 3D virtual reality applications. With them, visitors are taken back several centuries and are able to experience the same rooms and locations but in a different era. The tablets allow for more information to be shared, but most inportantly, the visual images appeal to the imagination of a wider public.
The radical change at marks a visible trend in the touristic sector. In France alone the HistoPads are available in 11 monumental sites at the moment.
“It’s a true time machine. It will revolutionise the experiences of visiting monuments.”
Edouard Lussan, one of the originators of the HistoPads at the French Castle of Amboise
Visitors take the tablets along their tours, holding it at eye height while the screen superimposes additional imagery onto the images which are recorded by the devise’s camera. This way people can see visuals combining real current images with the historical ones generated by the application. Tapping on icons or objects provides more information with additional images or in written form.
The tablets are worn with a cord around the neck for extra protection.
Read more (in French) at France Blue.