Secret Coast

Augmented Reality Storytelling, 2018

“It’s hard not to fall in love with Secret Coast” – Digital Catapult, 2018

During early 2018, I worked on an R&D project with a number of partners, supported through the Creative XR content innovation programme from the Digital Catapult and Arts Council England, about an augmented reality experience with coastal communities around the UK.

Britain’s coastline: 11,072 miles of cliffs, beaches, rocky coves, seaside promenades, and towns and villages; it’s a long, winding path with a vibrant history, capturing our powerful social and cultural connection with the sea. The coast of Britain is part of who we are, and very much a place of national contemplation, reflection and emotion.

Coastal communities are saturated with evocative folklore. With stories of tunnel networks, sea caves, piracy, wrecking, slavery, smuggling and mythological creatures and characters. It’s a liminal space not fully explored.

This project set out to explore that and create an interactive location based experience that evokes emotions about this hidden heritage and it's connection to our past, present and future.

Using augmented reality’s capabilities at revealing new story worlds, unearthing hidden secrets and bringing invisible culture to life to enable us to re-encounter the landscape through a new kind of reality. Melding together fact and fiction, time and space, past and present the story takes you back to 1790 where the past needs your help to save the future of sealife.

The project includes many features such as complex spatialised AR Scenes, volumetrically filmed content, cgi, mini games, spatial audio, video and interactive content.