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Date: 30 Sep 2024
Category: City centre, Digital Innovation
Belfast City Council has unveiled a new Augmented Reality (AR) experience as part of Belfast City Hall’s popular free visitor exhibition.
This trial of cutting-edge digital technology across three rooms of the exhibition is the result of a unique collaboration with BT and offers visitors interactive ways to explore the stories of our city.
Visitors are invited by an animated seahorse from the Belfast Coat of Arms to experience the digital magic of augmented reality as the city’s hidden river is revealed and walls crumble to uncover secret passageways.
The immersive journey begins in a virtual library where you can explore Belfast’s words and accent as flying books tell their stories and portraits reveal hidden secrets.
Visitors are then transported to Belfast’s past, present and future through 3D maps. Meet Peggy Barclay of Sugarhouse Entry, discover the hidden history of the city’s streets, and see what the city of the future could look like, inspired by local children and their innovative drawings of flying cars, slides on buildings, and floating bubble houses.
Enjoy playing interactive street games as you have a kick around with a football, fire a catapult at tin cans, and collect coins as you 'run’ through Belfast's streets.
You can also create your own ‘Instagrammable’ works of postcard art with Belfast’s landmarks, ready to share on social media.
Presented as part of the Belfast 2024 city-wide creative celebration, this new experience uses the latest digital technology including augmented reality, projection technologies, gesture controlled interactive gaming, and advanced wireless connectivity.
Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray said: “Our City Hall exhibition has welcomed thousands of visitors and locals every week since it opened in 2017 - it’s an amazing way to dip into the rich history and culture of both Belfast and City Hall. When BT approached us with the idea of experimenting with immersive technologies, we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity for us to explore what the exhibition of the future could look like.
“We’re over the moon with the experience that we've developed together. It offers visitors a different, really engaging take on our city, and a glimpse into how technology can be used to enhance the visitor experience of City Hall and inform our thinking around future tourism projects including Belfast Stories.
“It’s wonderful to have this new experience added to Belfast 2024, our biggest ever city-wide celebration of creativity – especially as it addresses our key themes of people, place and planet – and will carry on the positive legacy of this year’s celebrations – informing how we imaginatively celebrate our city and our people in the new Belfast Stories experience which we’re currently developing.
“Whether you haven’t been to Belfast City Hall in a while – or have never visited before - I really encourage you to check out this magical experience.”
Janet Burns, Business Development Director, BT in Northern Ireland, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Belfast City Council to present this state-of-the-art immersive experience at City Hall, showcasing the transformative potential of 5G advanced wireless technology.
“Combining EE’s leading 5G network with AWS Wavelength cloud services, enables efficient, high speed and secure connectivity, and accelerated XR (Extended Reality) processing creating highly realistic images of the city.
“BT’s purpose is to ‘Connect for Good,’ and this 5G-enabled immersive experience demonstrates how cutting edge digital technology can help to change our lives for the better. It also reaffirms our commitment to supporting innovation and investment in Northern Ireland’s future.”
The Belfast City Hall AR experience opens on October 1, 2024 and will run until the end of March 2025. Admission is free.
Tickets can be booked in advance, or visitors can access the exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of their visit.
For more information, visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/exhibition and www.belfast2024.co.uk