Design and build practice Sarner International, has won the tender to design and deliver a new, immersive visitor experience that takes visitors back in time to 9th century Winchester, UK.
The project was initiated through a cross-sector partnership between charity Hampshire Cultural Trust, international gaming company Ubisoft, who featured Anglo-Saxon Winchester in the Valhalla chapter of their global gaming series Assassin’s Creed, and UK creative innovation studio, Sugar Creative.
The new visitor attraction will give audiences an interactive insight into Anglo-Saxon life in Winchester through immersive storytelling, audio-visual projection and the use of contemporary objects from Hampshire Cultural Trust’s collections, complemented by assets from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Ubisoft’s own educational spin-off, Discovery Tour: Viking Age. It will relate the importance of Winchester, King Alfred’s capital, in the shaping of English history. The experience will tackle warfare and conflict with the Vikings, but also more subtle subjects such as daily life, trade and the profound influence of this time and place on the English language.
Once visitors have completed the attraction they will be able to continue their exploration of Winchester, guided by an augmented reality app being developed by Sugar Creative.
The aim is not only to deliver a 21st century heritage attraction based on a digital, immersive experience, but also to pioneer a new form of collaboration between arts and heritage organisations, technology innovators and the gaming industry.
The attraction is due to open late 2022 in Winchester, UK.