A digital Durham walking guide reveals the city in a way it's never been seen before - while challenging families to test their knowledge of the city.
The ExplorAR Durham walking tour web app, which users can access from their smartphone, desktop or tablet at explorar.co.uk/walks, guides you around Durham's key locations using the latest cutting edge technology.
With 360 degree panoramas, 3D models, interactive images and GPS, the Durham walking tour provides a new insight into historic locations such as Palace Green, Old Shire Hall and Durham Marketplace.
But the Durham smartphone walking guide also engages users with a series of quizzes and treasure hunts - turning a stroll around Durham into an adventure.
The ExplorAR Durham walking tour has been created by Durham-based digital company ExplorAR.co.uk, which specialises in creating apps and web content such as 360 virtual tours, 3D models and touchscreen content, with an emphasis on visitor attractions and heritage.
Richard Fletcher from ExplorAR said: "The walking tour not only gives tourists a guide to our city's key locations, but it also offers something new to locals who are already familiar with Durham's sights. We hope it can turn a walk around the city into a free day of family fun.
"Whether they're spinning a 360 image to learn about the buildings on Palace Green or hunting for information on a plaque to answer a quiz question, it shows off our fantastic city in a totally new light and gives people another reason to visit. But lots of the content can also be enjoyed even if users aren’t in Durham city centre, which will help to promote Durham and its heritage across the world."
Most of the tour's content can be accessed remotely, making it suitable for people thinking of visiting Durham such as prospective students and tourists, or people who are unable to get to the city centre; the only feature that requires users to be on-site to unlock it is the quiz.
The quiz questions have been designed to offer something for everyone; some of the
questions simply involve hunting for an item, but others involve a few tricky calculations so all members of the family can get involved.
Richard said: "The questions are only revealed once you check into each location, so we can't give away too much, but here's a clue: you might want to brush up on your Roman numerals before visiting Palace Green!"
The walking tour is web-based, meaning that no download is needed from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
ExplorAR will continue adding new content to the walking tour over the coming months. They will also be adding new tour locations across County Durham and beyond.
If you have feedback or questions, or would be interested in ExplorAR creating a walking tour or 360 virtual tour for your venue, you can contact ExplorAR at hello@explorar.co.uk