Augmented reality app for Spike Island ‘first of its kind’

In a first of its kind for Irish tourism, Spike Island has launched an immersive adventure available through a new augmented reality app.

Using their mobile phones, visitors can relive historical moments from Saint Mochuda’s monastery in 600AD, to An Taoiseach Eamon DeValera’s visit, right through to the infamous prison riot of the 1980s.

The Spike Island experience is the largest augmented reality experience in Ireland, covering an area of over 100 acres.

The new experience has been created by the award-winning immersive experience team from Irish startup Imvizar, in collaboration with award-winning TV producer with RTÉ, Marie Toft, who has previously worked on Creedon’s Wild Atlantic Way and Creedon’s Epic East.

Speaking to The Echo, founder and CEO of Imvizar Michael Guerin said that the startup, which was founded last year, creates immersive experiences for visitor attractions, towns, and local authorities across Ireland.

“The key components of what we do is we use augmented reality technology so people just use their own phone when they’re on-site, they don’t have to wear a headset or have to wear goggles or glasses. It’s a bit like an audio tour, except there’s a visual component to it as well.

“So, when people arrive at the Spike ticket office they are encouraged to download it at that point, and there are 15 scenes around the island which basically bring the island to life.”

He said that Imvizar has been working on the app for about six months. It came about following a chat with Spike Island general manager John Crotty after Mr Guerin first visited the island back in 2016 and was “hugely impressed”.

“They were looking for something new and digital to engage the visitors, so there had been an audio tour that was coming to the end of its life and they wanted something new and different,” said Mr Guerin.

“This is certainly the first of its kind in Ireland. This is actually quite a significant thing although it’s an Irish company doing it for an Irish visitor attraction.”

Speaking at the app’s launch yesterday, Mr Crotty 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. Attracting a world-class experience such as this to our region will further enhance our tourism offering and provide an economic boost for the region.”

Speaking about plans for the future, Mr Guerin said that the Imvazar app will be a platform on which there will be multiple experiences hosted.

“A big thing we found in our research is that people, whenever they go to new attractions, don’t want to download an app they can just use once,” he said.

“So instead you can use this app for Spike Island, and we’re launching an experience in Kerry and one in Waterford and more experiences in Sligo and Dublin so the goal would be, over time, as a tourist, you start to use the one app.”