In the first ever city-scale Augmented Reality (AR) experience for Wallace & Gromit, multi award®-winning independent studio Aardman has partnered with immersive storytelling consortium Fictioneers for the release of their latest R&D collaboration: ‘Fix Up The City’. Starring the famed British duo, the new app which launches today uses the power of AR and hyper-precise digital scanning to transform the cities Bristol and Cardiff, UK, and San Francisco, into a virtual stage.
The game, which will take approximately one hour to complete in the UK, will involve fun, engaging, large-scale AR experiences that will play out before fans in a never before seen way; while the US experience in San Francisco will be a condensed experience of the highlights. Interact with Wallace’s famous rocket, watch Gromit take off in his iconic plane - and even battle a colossal cleaning robot!
Available on iOS and Android smartphones, the ‘Fix Up the City’ app is free to download for a limited time, and will become available to use upon successfully detecting a user's location in central Bristol (the home of Aardman studios) and Cardiff Bay in the UK; and downtown San Francisco in the US.
The activity, funded by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), follows Fictioneers’ successful launch of The Big Fix Up earlier this year, which was shortlisted for two Cannes Lions awards. Now available worldwide*, the app demonstrates innovation in storytelling using the latest cutting-edge technology.
Working alongside Unity Technologies, which powers more than 60% of the world’s augmented reality and virtual reality content; and bespoke 3D mapping company, Fantasmo, the team at Fictioneers has been able to scan key architecture in each city to embed hyper precise AR features and experiences, making for a more personalised, immersive and encaptivating experience for fans.
‘Fix Up The City' is voiced by award-winning British actor Miriam Margolyes as “BERYL”, Jim Carter OBE as “Bernard Grubb”, YouTuber Joe Sugg as ”Big LAD” and Ben Whitehead as “Wallace”.
The new augmented adventure has been created by Aardman, and Fictioneers: a collaboration of partners including Potato (part of the AKQA network), Sugar Creative and Tiny Rebel Games.
You can watch the teaser clip here.
Creative Director at Aardman, Merlin Crossingham, said: “Wallace and Gromit are no strangers to invention and new technology and we are delighted that they are part of such a groundbreaking project. For the first time you can actually be part of a Wallace & Gromit adventure, and experience them larger than life, out in the real world!”
Creative Director at Tiny Rebel Games (a co-founder of Fictioneers), Lee Cummings, said: “We are so excited to launch Fix Up The City this summer. It’s an experience that puts these cities at the forefront of city scale augmented reality experiences. This project has enabled us to unleash our full ambition and capabilities harnessed during the development of The Big Fix Up”
Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden, said: “This is such an exciting initiative - and I’m delighted to see an innovative and creative project also acting as an economic boost for the city. Being alongside Bristol and San Francisco really does put Wales’ creative credentials on the map. We look forward to seeing people enjoying Wallace and Gromit adventures over the summer.”
Visit fixupthecity.co.uk for more information
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