Tourgether
Cutting-edge Live-guided
360° video Virtual Visits.
Background
Tourgether was built upon Virtual Visits, a 360° video tour platform which I built for YourTour in 2019.
Virtual Visits was one of my projects at YourTour from 2019 which aimed to improve the fluidity and spatial immersion of virtual tours. This culminated in the production of ‘The Battle of Culloden: The Jacobites’ Last Stand’ which was watched over 20,000 times in the first two weeks.
The feedback for Virtual Visits was exceptional but we felt that a more interactive experience was required. The result was Tourgether, a live-guided platform that enables a guide to take up to 30 users at a time around a site in media-rich 360° via a zoom-style interface.
The project
Developed in collaboration with The National Trust for Scotland to help engage with a remote audience.
We once again selected the Culloden Battlefield as the focus for our pilot experience, given its popularity and strong international connections. To ensure Tourgether met expectations, we collaborated closely with the site's tour guides.
Interactive 3D objects, visual effects, and CGI brought the moor to life, while features like chat, reactions, and group quiz questions enabled guides to actively engage with users. Additionally, site-specific elements such as a map and family tree provided valuable context and orientation.
Outcome
After a series of 21 pilot tours to gather feedback from both Tour guides and users, we were confident that Tourgether was ready.
All of these features and enhancements eventually came together to produce a product that we could be proud of.
Tourgether was Shortlisted for 'Innovator of the year' at the Museums + Heritage Awards 2023
Since the launch of Tourgether over 150 tours have been scheduled and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.