Emerging creative professionals, ‘StoryMappers’, were embedded in communities to research and collect stories, which were developed as immersive cinema, AR and VR installations and then taken back into these communities via a series of pop-up events. In September 2022, Catford Library was transformed for a unique experience that allowed local people to capture and experience their towns in completely new ways.

As part of the StoryTrails Legacy, a series of events took place across Libraries in Lewisham, showcasing the technology and stories created, from mixed media art workshops to VR drop in sessions.

The People's Map

As part of StoryTrails, the UK's largest immersive storytelling experience, 'The People's Map' brings to life a psychogeographic representation of Lewisham. The map combines good old-fashioned audio storytelling and archive footage with cutting-edge 3D scanning technology to create a new national portrait in 2022.

Bringing together past and present, StoryTrails aimed to re-connect people to their community through local stories, demonstrating what the very latest immersive technologies have to offer local storytellers. Over 400 stories and nearly 7000 scans were captured to create 15 animated maps, bespoke to each location and telling stories in new and surprising ways. StoryTrails toured the UK as a pop-up event in summer 2022, visiting 15 different towns and cities. StoryTrails was commissioned as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK

Watch 'The People's Map' video

AR Trails

AR, (Augmented reality) is where digital objects are made to appear in the physical world usually via a mobile phone screen, or larger interactive screen.

Guided by the Story-Trails mobile AR app, participants travelled through a neon portal and were led at their own pace to different story points along a fixed route. The 15 StoryTrails trails were accessable from library locations or could be experienced from home via the Story-Trails app. Using a mix of stunning augmented reality experiences that remix the BFI & BBC archives, participants experienced history where it actually happened, revitalising the streets with new voices and untold stories of the past. We explored stories that highlight who we were in the past, who we are now, and where we are heading into the future. These AR trails were built using a range of new technologies. From LiDAR 3D scanning to spatial audio, experience storytelling like never before.