Explore Luxembourg City in the Belle époque
Would you like to take a step back in time and take a walk through the narrow streets of Luxembourg City while exploring the capital's heritage and the commercial development from the Belle Époque to today? It's easy, just download the new 'The Luxembourg Time Traveler' app from the City of Luxembourg and take a journey back in time.
The new 'The Luxembourg Time Traveler' app is the perfect travel companion and enables users to discover the capital's heritage as well as the history of the City of Luxembourg in a fun and entertaining way.
The application literally drops its visitors into the meandering streets of the capital at the turn of the 20th century, thanks to augmented reality technology. On the screen of their smartphone or tablet, users can then discover another reality that unfolds before their eyes - the City of Luxembourg during the Belle Époque.
The City of Luxembourg now has a new tool available allowing users to explore the capital's heritage in a fun and entertaining way. It is compatible with IOS and Android, and available free of charge in French, English and German in AR mode. Are you aware of the difference between AR and VR?
Augmented reality (AR) makes it possible to add virtual elements to reality, for example by displaying on a tablet historical photos of places visited during a historical tour.
Virtual reality (VR) provides access to a 3D world by using headphones and movement sensors.
A shopping trip through time
The 'Luxembourg Time Traveler' offers 31 hotspots to discover, 13 of which are compatible with immersive reality. Using geolocation, the app recognises if the user is near one of the 31 points of interest. When one of these points of interest is in the field of the camera, the app superimposes the historical image over the real image. The user can find out about the places of interest and buildings via a digital interface which provides additional information.
The tour takes visitors through the UNESCO areas of Luxembourg City and accompanies them through the narrow streets where the small shops were located at the start of the 20th century, a period when the city's economic and commercial development was in full swing.
The objective of the app is to attract visitors to lesser-known catchment areas and to provide information about the commercial history of buildings and squares in the city. A quiz and photos from the archives of the Photothèque (Photographic Archive) of the City of Luxembourg are also available on the Time Traveler menu.
Looking at the Grand Duchy in a different light
Virtual reality is making great advances and is becoming extremely popular with the general public. And for good reason, this immersive experience allows users to take a tour of the Machu Picchu, travel down the Nile in Egypt and dive into the Pacific without leaving the comfort of their sofa. This new technology has been employed for several years, enabling users to wander through the old streets of the Luxembourg capital and its suburbs.
A virtual trip aboard the Pétrusse Express
Whilst on board the Pétrusse Express, voyagers can enjoy an immersive experience in Pfaffenthal in 1867. Operating seven days a week and making eight one-hour trips a day, one of the three cars of the Pétrusse Express is equipped with 15 VR glasses. The current route is 1.2km long, which takes about 15 minutes on a virtual carriage dating back to 1867.
In the historic heart of Pfaffenthal
The Timetravel start-up offers its visitors a virtual journey through the capital in the 19th century on board their minibus, which can hold up to 30 passengers. It takes them on a trip through the historic quarter of the Pfaffenthal. The coachman, called Jos, explains to visitors the living conditions of local inhabitants shortly before Luxembourg's independence. The highlight of the visit is when visitors get on board the shuttle and put on the virtual reality glasses. The modern vehicle is then instantly transformed into a horse-drawn carriage, and the visitors can even feel the cobblestones beneath the wheels!
A VR experience for all ages
The VR Park is a virtual reality park located in Belval. Spread across nearly 500 square metres, 15 machines offer a breath-taking sensory journey with a variety of programmes to suit all ages.
STEFT1867
This project, which is located in the Artificial Intelligence and Art Pavilion at the University of Luxembourg in Belval and is part of Esch2022 - European Capital of Culture, is a historical game based on an avatar who plays a ten-year-old street boy named STEFT. The story takes place in the city of Luxembourg in 1867 and STEFT is constantly learning from his experiences. The player's role is to give instructions to STEFT and to interact with him and the other characters in the game.
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