Blackpool

01 Oct ‘22 -
31 Mar ‘23

Central Library, Queen Street, Blackpool, FY1 1PX

StoryTrails features digital experiences that invites residents to experience Blackpool like they’ve never seen before through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and an immersive emotional map of Blackpool. The experiences centre around Blackpool library as well as on the streets of Blackpool itself. Or you can experience it from the comfort of your own home by downloading the Story-Trails app.

Immersive technology allows audiences to travel through time and space to experience the place where they live in new and magical ways. You can explore stories across virtual and augmented reality and via a series of installations by visiting the StoryTrails station at your local participating library. 92% of participants in StoryTrails said they’d learnt something new about their town or city using AR. Download the Story-Trails app here and see what you can discover for yourself about Blackpool.

Outside the library you can start a guided bespoke augmented reality trail which takes you on an interactive tour of Bristol. All equipment can be borrowed for free from the library. Local landmarks are transformed to become interactive scenes through which you can explore history at or close to the location it took place in. Created featuring archive footage and recordings from the BBC, BFI and The North West Film archive and local and national archives you can uncover untold stories presenting a window into the past.

What’s on offer at Blackpool Library?

• 6 Virtual Reality Experiences

• Interactive Spacial Map Installation

• Augmented Reality Trail: ‘The Queercoaster’

Download Our App

Download the free StoryTrails app and explore our AR trails in your town or city, or at home!

Download iOS App Download Android App

Guided by the Story-Trails mobile AR app, you will be led at your own pace to different story points along a fixed route. If doing the trail on location, you will enter a virtual story portal outside the local participating library to begin your StoryTrails experience. Or you can access any of the 15 StoryTrails locations trails from home via the Story-Trails app. Using a mix of stunning augmented reality experiences that remix the BFI, BBC and North West Film archive, you will experience history where it actually happened, revitalising the streets upon which you stand with new voices and untold stories of the past. Inside the library you will be immersed in a unique virtual map of Blackpool made up of 3D models, and audio stories captured on location.

Accessibility

Blackpool library has one main entrance, with no steps. The front door will open automatically. Inside the library, there is a ramp on the right hand side, up to the ground floor lobby, or six steps. The ramp has a right, 90-degree angle turn. There is an accessible toilet on the ground floor. All of the experiences are on the ground floor. There is a lift to the first floor, however wheelchair users should be aware the corridor upstairs is quite narrow (85cm) – this is only relevant for staff and volunteers though, not visitors.

For more detailed accessibility information click here.

If you would like to read our FAQs, please click here.

Kezi Gardom

StoryMapper,
Blackpool

During her MA at Goldsmiths, Kezi worked with ReAct Youth Theatre, an after-school youth theatre for young people in Southwark and inclusive of young refugees, migrants aged 12-18 from different cultural and national backgrounds. She has previously worked on ‘TAMWORTH AR EXPLORER’, a large-scale app-based AR tour of Tamworth Castle in which visitors follow the spirit of the castle and unlock the hidden stories with a complimentary remote education platform.

“You can't match the Blackpool attitude - friendly, generous and not afraid to call a spade a spade.”

“‘Northern Lights’ is my favourite book. It was the first time I remember reading a book where there was a main female character who wasn't nice, and where there wasn't a happy ending.”

Joseph Doubtfire

TrailMaker,
Blackpool

Joseph has a background in Art and Design. He has taught at Blackpool School of Arts since 2017. His creative work includes making, curating, writing and teaching. He has recently shown work with the Partnership (a group of artists with and without learning disabilities) at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery and also at Manchester Contemporary. Joseph enjoys making collages with the leftovers of his students’ work, these pieces signify the crossover between these two roles that he performs as well as his time in Blackpool. He is looking forward to tell the hidden histories of LGBTQ+ people in Blackpool through his involvement on StoryTrails.

“Having worked as an artist and lecturer in Blackpool for the last five years, what I love most about the town is how it manages to surprise you”

“Edmund de Waal's 'The Hare With the Amber Eyes' was my favourite library book. I love how reflecting on the journey of a small collection of objects, he was able to tell an emotional and complicated family history.”

Leo Mercer

TrailMaker,
Blackpool

During his time at university, Leo started a musical theatre company ‘Leo&Hyde’. He is interested in the storytelling possibilities of augmented reality and is intrigued to see how these technologies can be applied to musical theatre. He has recently worked on The VR Museum of Plastic on the back of a StoryFutures VR placement, and began working with Cooperative Innovations as a writer and creative producer. This placement provided inspirational insights into what VR museums could look like.

“I get the sense that Blackpool’s golden age is in its future and not in its past.”

“My favourite book is ‘Dawn of the New Everything’ by Jason Lanier. It has a surprisingly rich, mystical view of what virtual reality could open up for humankind.”

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