Having an appy time on Spike
Spike Island has launched a new immersive adventure with 15 scenes across the island, the first of its kind in Ireland.
If the Spike Island experience wasn’t already good enough, visitors can now use their phone to immerse themselves in historic many historic events from Saint Mochuda's monastery in 600AD, to An Taoiseach Eamon De Valera's visit, right through to the infamous prison riot of the 1980s. This experience is the largest augmented reality experience in Ireland, covering an area of over 100 acres.
The new experience, which was launched on Monday, has been created by the award-winning immersive experience team from Irish start-up, Imvizar, in collaboration with TV producer with RTÉ Marie Toft of 'Creedon's Wild Atlantic Way' and 'Creedon's Epic East'.
John Crotty, Spike Island General Manager, said: "This is such an exciting day for us. Our visitors will get the opportunity to relive the stories of the Island like never before. However, this is not just exciting for Spike, but Cobh and Cork also."
Michael Guerin, Founder and CEO of Imvizar, said: "It has been a pleasure to work with one of Europe's leading tourist attractions to bring their story to life. It is an ideal location for this kind of immersive experience which gives visitors the opportunity to explore and discover the island on their own terms and connect with the human stories behind the headlines."
Visitors to the Island will use augmented reality technology to transform the Island in a family-friendly adventure, full of twists and turns. It uses the same technology as the famous Pokemon Go game which entertains users via characters which they can only see via their phone.
Marie Toft, CEO of Emotionise AI and producer of the Spike Island experience said: "Finding the emotional hook and engaging people emotionally is what I specialise in. The wealth of history, endeavour and tragedy that has taken place on Spike Island over a thousand years gave me huge opportunities.”
The experience is available via the Imvizar app, which also hosts experiences in Kerry, Dublin, Sligo and as far afield as Portugal. It is available on the App and Play Store now.