The Project
Every year the Canal & River trust completes vital work to maintain over two thousand miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.
One of the Canal & River Trust’s successful initiatives for engaging the public in major works is to open them up for visitors, with daily guided tours of key sites. These experiences proved popular but were limited in terms of reaching the widest number of people.
This challenge provided the perfect opportunity to use the latest in ultra-high resolution 360 degree filming techniques to digitise one of these tours, and teleport users down into the bottom of a drained lock.
The interactive VR experience
The scenario was designed with an embedded 2D animated tutorial at the start to familiarise users to the experience, and orientate them within the space. This gave way to an 11k resolution experience, in which a Canal & River Trust tour guide talks the user through the major works being undertaken at the bottom of the lock, including the installation of huge 60ft high wooden gates.
