Raglan Castle 5G AR Experiences

As partners in the DCMS funded 5G Wales Unlocked project, we created immersive AR experiences at Raglan Castle to determine whether immersive experiences enabled by 5G connectivity can drive increased tourism to rural heritage sites.

We created 3 activities within the app, each with different levels of interactivity to determine what types of activity resonate with visitors to the site.

We used cloud anchor technology to accurately place virtual AR content across large areas and recreated the front view of the entire castle, to show visitors how it would have looked before it was attacked in the English Civil War. We created a cannon firing game, allowing players to place and fire their own virtual cannons in AR to attack the castle as if they were the parliamentarians besieging it in 1646.

On the bowling green we allowed players to play bowls against King Charles I, a game that is believed to have taken place there in 1645.

The centrally located Fountain Court, once a magnificent example of Elizabethan architecture is now a shadow of its former self. We recreated the court, together with the fountain that gave it its name, allowing visitors to see it after they had completed a simple quest that highlighted key architectural features.

We added a virtual dress-up and selfie opportunity to enable visitors to try on different outfits and share their images.

User analytics together with a visitor feedback questionnaire were incorporated, accessible via a cloud-based dashboard, to enable Cadw to determine visitor appetite for these experiences, with a view to adding more across their many sites. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since the experience was launched in March.