We use augmented reality to illustrate and share local stories
We use augmented reality to illustrate and share local stories
Hidden Station
‘Hidden Station’ is an exhibition of AR artwork co-created by Zubr Curio and artists Jayde Perkin and David McMillan for Bridgwater Railway Station. The project aimed to creatively engage the diverse communities of Bridgwater, especially groups who have previously had limited access to cultural activities.
Our main objective was to highlight the historical and cultural significance of Bridgwater Railway Station, and to instill a sense of belonging and ownership over the station among Bridgwater residents.
To increase local engagement with the project, David and Jayde met with Bridgwater residents and regular users of Bridgwater Station to collate a series of anecdotes celebrating people’s connection to the station.
Next Jayde and Dave created illustrations based on the collected stories, which our team then transformed into augmented reality filters which enable visitors to the station to bring this local history to life using their own smart devices.
Our augmented reality interventions were chosen above other artistic suggestions because of the novel combination of bespoke illustrations depicting local history, immersive content to engage passersby, and the user-friendly, easily-accessible nature of social media filters which don’t require you to download a separate app.
Try it yourself by visiting Bridgwater Station and scanning the QR codes on the posters, or via Seed Sedgemoor’s Instagram.
180+
Year history
8
AR filters
2
Artists
9
Month exhibition
Partners
This exciting series of AR artwork interactives was commissioned by Seed Sedgemoor, Severnside Community Rail Partnership and the station operator Great Western Railways.
Seed Sedgemoor was created by a consortium of organisations doing work for communities living and working in Sedgemoor. Their ten-year vision is to ensure that everyone living and working in Sedgemoor has a chance to experience more creative arts and culture.
Severnside Community Rail Partnership works to develop the role communities play in shaping their railway, and the role the railway has in supporting the communities it serves. The partnership achieves this through providing a voice for the community, promoting sustainable, healthy and accessible travel, bringing communities together and supporting diversity and inclusion and supporting social and economic development.
Great Western Railways (GWR) want to help people get the most from their railways, providing stations that are pleasant, and easy to use, and to promote social inclusion.
This wonderful project is about bringing all of these aims together through a creative and innovative way to connect people to Bridgwater Station and to each other when using the station.
This is our first venture using Augmented Reality and we are so impressed with the playful way it allows people to engage with Bridgwater station. This ambitious exhibition creatively shares stories from the community to other local residents and passengers, creating a deeper connection to the station and enhancing the value it has for everyone passing through.
Faye Keane, Severnside Community Rail Partnership’s Community Development Officer
This is our first venture using Augmented Reality and we are so impressed with the playful way it allows people to engage with Bridgwater station. This ambitious exhibition creatively shares stories from the community to other local residents and passengers, creating a deeper connection to the station and enhancing the value it has for everyone passing through.
Faye Keane, Severnside Community Rail Partnership’s Community Development Officer
AR Artworks - your ticket to an augmented reality adventure!
Bridgwater Railway Station is a Grade-II listed building designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The station is reputedly the second busiest in Somerset, serving up to 346,000 passengers per year, with a service pattern typically one train per hour in each direction.
There is a passenger waiting room on Platform 2 and poster-style artworks exist in various locations around the station, primarily advertising, safety, directional, and other information signage.
There are planned improvements to the station of £1.2million in the pipeline. In the station’s initial consultation around what these improvements might entail, station users indicated an interest in the idea of augmented reality.
The majority of locals and station visitors spoken to described habitual use of their own hand-held smart devices when in the vicinity of the station.
They were intrigued by the idea of using those to interact with an AR art works displayed around the station as a way to pass the time waiting for a train and to learn more about the station’s history.
The team therefore sought out a creative collective to work with community participants to create a site-specific AR artwork or series of works for Bridgwater Railway station in 2023.
And that’s where we came in!
Railway stations have a long history of being more than just places to catch a train, they are also places where people meet and connect into the lives of local communities too.
Paul Webster, Support and Development Manager with Community Rail Network
Railway stations have a long history of being more than just places to catch a train, they are also places where people meet and connect into the lives of local communities too.
Paul Webster, Support and Development Manager with Community Rail Network
Full steam ahead
After an internal kickoff meeting where we discussed different artistic avenues to pursue, we decided to source inspiration from those who knew the station best and use it most: Bridgwater residents.
We ran a series of workshops, inviting people to come and tell us their memories of this local landmark.
During their collaborative sessions in Bridgwater, Jayde and Dave discussed ideas, drew portraits and documented stories shared by local residents. Each poster illustrates the chosen story and includes some short written context.
Through these encounters, they identified four key themes as striking pillars of the city’s cultural heritage: Hidden Adventures, Hidden Festivities, Hidden History and Hidden Rebellion.
There are 8 animated, AR artworks in total; two per theme.
Hidden Adventures includes stories about cycling in the Quantocks and seeing the Flying Scotsman. Hidden Festivities focuses on Bridgwater Carnival and a local Elvis impersonator. Hidden History explores Queen Victoria’s disapproving journey through Bridgwater and the station’s links to WWII. Finally, Hidden Rebellion looks at Bridgwater’s response to nuclear waste services and climate protests.
Curio’s 2D asset team then brought the illustrations to life by animating different elements, spatialising assets, adding particle effects and sounds.
We deployed the outcome as an AR artwork social media filter. Bridgwater Station visitors simply scan the QR code the relevant poster, and the augmented reality experience opens within Instagram.
From train tracks to AR tracking
The compelling narratives are displayed throughout Bridgwater Railway Station on large-scale posters and vinyls.
Through the AR artworks, personal devices become the key to unlock secret scenes. Each artwork features distinctive 2D characters which are magically brought to life when station visitors observe them through our interactive AR social media filters.
Visitors to the Station are able to enjoy the colourful, physical, art installations and then use their phones to reveal the ‘hidden’ AR artworks.
The filters are hosted directly on Seed Sedgemoor’s Instagram so that visitors can explore our user-friendly AR experiences through apps they already have, rather than requiring a separate download.
The launch event at Bridgwater Station was well attended, with around 40 people keen to see and try out the AR artwork newly installed around the platforms. After a celebratory speech from Mayor Mick Lerry, people wandered through the station discovering the hidden stories through the augmented reality filters.
Due to the popularity of the project, we were commissioned to create two additional AR artworks including the posters and interactive filters which will be exhibited at Somerset Film’s Engine Room as well as Bridgwater Railway Station’s waiting room.
These new additions will be publicly available in Autumn 2023, and you can enjoy ‘Hidden Station’ until its decommission in March 2024.
This is the entrance to Bridgwater and it’s, after your intervention, the most creative station in the South West.
Mayor of Bridgwater, Cllr Mick Lerry, during Hidden Station’s launch event in July 2023
This is the entrance to Bridgwater and it’s, after your intervention, the most creative station in the South West.
Mayor of Bridgwater, Cllr Mick Lerry, during Hidden Station’s launch event in July 2023
All aboard for AR!
Take a peak at some of our other AR artworks like AR exhibition Displays Decoded, or our AR street murals for UPFEST. Feeling inspired and want to collaborate on your own AR artwork or another immersive project?
We love working with everyone from artists who want to add a digital layer to their practice to tourism, heritage and culture sites who want to increase their visitor footfall or create a new experience to entertain return visitors.
Get in touch via our contact form to find out how we can make some magic together.
