First Swiss mountain railway launches augmented reality app

In the place where winter tourism was invented and Switzerland's only Winter Olympics were held - St. Moritz - visitors can now interact digitally with the mountain's past via a new augmented reality app WINTEROLYMP. The Swiss mountain railway company Engadin St. Moritz Mountains is thus taking on a pioneering role when it comes to digital experiences in tourism.

Winter tourism was invented in St. Moritz over 150 years ago. Two Winter Olympics and five Alpine World Ski Championships have been held here. An eventful past that offers plenty of material for exciting stories. The mountain railway company Engadin St. Moritz Mountains wanted to bring this back to life - and created the augmented reality app WINTEROLYMP together with the tech company apelab.

"With our AR project on the Corviglia, we are taking a further step towards improving the mountain experience for our guests and continuing our pioneering role in tourism and digitalisation," said Markus Meili, CEO of Engadin St. Moritz Mountains, at today's presentation of the app in St. Moritz.

The latest technology pushes the boundaries of reality

The app was created by apelab using the SpatialStories tool. Designers created characters and environments entirely in virtual reality using tools such as Google Blocks under the supervision of Art Director Sylvain Joly. "The WINTEROLYMP app pushes the boundaries of immersive creation. Augmented reality allows us to create a unique experience for the audience on a large scale. We are honoured to be the first to bring such a ground-breaking experience to the Swiss mountains," said Emilie Joly, Managing Director at apelab in Geneva. This is the first time an app has been created in VR format - using a mix of motion capture and animation. It is also the first AR app in the tourism segment. A special experience for visitors to Corviglia, who can learn more about the history of the mountain in a fun way.

Virtual infrastructure as the future of tourism

Many new offers on the mountain are still linked to infrastructural projects. At Engadin St. Moritz Mountains, however, the design of offers is increasingly taking place in the digitalised world. "This now plays a central role in the creation of new products," said Michael Kirchner, Head of Communications and Sales at Engadin St. Moritz Mountains. The WINTEROLYMP AR app is a qualitative and sustainable extension of the offer for Engadin St. Moritz Mountains as a mountain experience provider, but also for the entire Upper Engadin as a tourist destination.

Award-winning in China

"The WINTEROLYMP app creates a completely new user experience," said Salar Shahna from apelab, who co-developed the app. This has even been recognised in China. There, Shahna received the VR CORE Award for the best AR app for the project. "The Olympic Games will be held in China in 2022. 300 million Chinese people are about to devote themselves to winter sports. The fact that we received an award in this important future market is of great significance for the introduction of such AR apps in the tourism sector," said Shahna.

Source: MM