Swindon

01 Oct ‘22 -
31 Mar ‘23

Swindon Central Library, Regent Circus, SN1 1QG

StoryTrails features digital experiences that invites residents to experience Swindon like they’ve never seen before through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and an immersive emotional map of Swindon. The experiences centre around Swindon library as well as on the streets of Swindon 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 Swindon.

Outside the library you can start a guided bespoke augmented reality trail which takes you on an interactive tour of Swindon. 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 BFI & BBC archives and local and national archives you can uncover untold stories presenting a window into the past.

What’s on offer at Swindon Library?

• 6 Virtual Reality Experiences

• Interactive Spacial Map Installation

• Augmented Reality Trail: ‘Snapping Swindon With The Hoopers’

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 archives, 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 Swindon made up of 3D models, and audio stories captured on location.

Accessibility

Swindon Central Library has step free access to the entrance and throughout the building. All of the experiences are on the ground floor, and there are disabled toilets on all floors. There is lift to access other floors, but this is only necessary for staff.

For more detailed accessibility information click here.

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

Lucinda Rouse

StoryMapper,
Swindon

Lucinda has worked as a freelance audio, print and online journalist in West Africa from September 2017 – November 2021. In 2021, she spent a week in the Liberian rainforest reporting on hunters who supply the growing transnational trade of pangolin scales, to understand their living conditions and motivations for participating in this illegal activity.

“I love the countryside surrounding Swindon. It's stunning, even on a bleak winter's day, and full of history with its white horses and ancient barrows.”

“My favourite book is Sahara by Michael Palin. The photos and descriptions of Palin’s encounters never fail to take me back to my own adventures travelling around Senegal, Mali, Mauritania and Morocco as a student and the fun, freedom and learnings that accompanied them”

William Hewitt

TrailMaker,
Swindon

William recently co-directed and edited the documentary ‘Harmonic Spectrum’, which was awarded Best Short Film by BAFTA Scotland 2021. The film is about Sean who uses the Piano to navigate life on the Autistic Spectrum. As he is drawn into new musical collaborations he must learn to balance his enthusiasm and compulsive energy with understanding and compromise, redefining his perspective in the process. This year, William will release his first feature length documentary ‘Long Live My Happy Head’ on BBC with a World Premiere at BFI Flare film. This project has been a labour of love for him in his role as Co-Director for the last 2.5 years and I’m thrilled it’s finally reaching audiences.

“What I love most about the place is its prosperity through Britain’s industrial and civil history. Isambard Kingdom Brunels’s Swindon Works ended up forming such a progressive employee welfare system that it became the blueprint for our modern NHS.”

“Felix Guattari’s ‘The Three Ecologies’ is an essential book that has stuck with me. It discusses how ecology should not be limited solely to the natural world but also incorporate human relations and our subjective ideologies alongside the environment.”

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