VirTimePlace is a Virtual Reality Viewer for mobile devices, which offers a growing catalog of 3D recreations about monuments and archaeological sites which can be visited in our days.
It's useful to introduce the spaces created and as a complement for the visit, as it facilitates understanding, but it also provides a more engaging experience.
Its use usually tends to increase the duration of the visit, encouraging overnight stays, and is very useful in educative activities.
Under the name of virtual reality or virtual visits many products actually show static 3D panoramic images or videos, some of which are of high quality.
VirTimePlace is different because we offer 3D Virtual Reality in real time, which means to use simplified 3D models but with total freedom of movement.
This technique is the only way to an immersive experience which, as its name suggests, is the closest to being inside the 3d world and move freely, but also if you use it in a real destination, the GPS positioning and synchronized compass orientation, will provide a spectacular Sense of Augmented Reality.
Finally, VirTimePlace is a multi-destination app, and every year will add new places which maybe you'd like to visit. Everything from a single app and interface, without having to download or learn new ones.
Internet and mobile devices offer new ways of communication and cultural entertainment, but most of heritage resources belong to public entities, and since the 2008 crisis, it's very difficult to drive projects with public funds.
However, interest in the cultural heritage don't stop growing and seems inconsistent not to satisfy a growing market due to lack of public funds. In fact, the Ministerio de Cultura de España encourages public-private partnerships as the only way to enhance cultural resources, deprecating older unsustainable patterns.
Keeping this in mind, VirTimePlace brings a new generation of cultural resources based on Virtual Reality and Mobile Technology, which encourages the public-private model to meet the expectations of the XXI century tourist.
After 2 years of research and development (2012-3), bettween 2014-15 we published three prototypes achieving 6,000 downloads and in 2016July the first multi-destination app.
It may seem that four years are too many for one app, and that's true, but every destination involves months of work and the fact is that we didn't get any public support in three years to help our private financing, causing a discontinuous development.
However, thanks to some awards like diploma at FITUR 2015 and a high rating from our users, we have been encouraged to try to consolidate the project.
In July 2016 we achieved the largest funding granted by the ministry of culture among nearly 500 projects across Spain. This allowed us to consolidate the app and publish 8 destinations in Spain and Portugal in spring 2017, starting a sustainable growth that we hope to renew each year.
Real Time updates of destinations and users at VirTimePlace Users statisctics.