Benavente VR | Immersive Virtual Reality Experience for the City of Benavente

Eight centuries of Benavente’s history, one chair spin away

A castle-palace once described as one of the finest in the Kingdom of Castile. Two 12th-century Romanesque churches brimming with symbolism. An era of splendour that drew kings, chroniclers and travellers from across Europe. The challenge: much of that heritage no longer exists. The solution: rebuild it in virtual reality and let visitors live it first-hand. The City Council of Benavente, through Telefónica Tech, trusted DeuSens to turn the historical memory of this town in Zamora into three immersive 360° video experiences that aren’t just watched — they’re felt.

And the guide on this journey is no ordinary voiceover. It’s María Josefa Alonso Pimentel, Countess-Duchess of Benavente, Enlightenment patron and protector of Goya, recreated as a digital avatar who literally steps out of a painting to narrate the history of her lineage and her town. In Spanish, English and French.

The chair that turns virtual reality into physical reality: Roto VR Explorer

The visitor sits down. Puts on a pair of Meta Quest 3 goggles. Looks towards the central nave of Santa María del Azogue… and the chair turns with them. That’s how the Roto VR Explorer works — the only motorised VR chair officially endorsed by Meta: its patented look & turn technology synchronises the chair’s 360° rotation with the user’s head movements, while a full-body haptic vibration system translates every scene into a physical sensation. The castle isn’t just explored — it rumbles beneath your feet as its walls burn in 1809.

Three stations equipped with Roto VR Explorer chairs and Meta Quest 3 headsets allow multiple visitors to experience the journey simultaneously. No controllers, no complex instructions, no motion sickness. Interaction is natural — just point with your finger to choose — and accessibility settings (subtitles, chair rotation off) make the installation work for every profile: from schoolchildren to elderly visitors or wheelchair users.

Digital heritage reconstruction: what time destroyed, technology brings back

The production blends two worlds. The churches of Santa María del Azogue and San Juan del Mercado — with their Romanesque apses, the Annunciation sculpture group and the portal that echoes Santiago de Compostela’s Pórtico de la Gloria — were captured with real 360° drone footage, revealing perspectives and details that escape the conventional visit. But the real magic lies in what can no longer be visited: the Pimentel castle-palace, destroyed after the Napoleonic fire of 1809, has been digitally reconstructed in Unreal and Unity from historical documentation held in the Municipal Archive. Visitors walk through it at the height of its splendour, when chroniclers like Jerónimus Münzer ranked it alongside the Alcázars of Granada and Seville.

The third experience immerses visitors in 15th and 16th-century Benavente: the commercial boom, the monasteries under Pimentel patronage, the arrival of the Catholic Monarchs, the connection with the colonisation of the Americas. All rendered in 360° CGI and narrated with historical rigour, turning every minute of viewing into an immersive journey that no information panel can match.

Mixed Reality, three languages and accessible technology for the tourism of tomorrow

Before diving into the past, visitors choose their path. A Mixed Reality interactive menu — overlaid on the real environment — lets them select one of the three experiences, the language (Spanish, English or French) and accessibility options without removing the headset. Interaction works via hand gestures or, alternatively, headset gaze tracking, removing any technological barrier.

Benavente VR proves that virtual reality isn’t just entertainment: it’s a tool capable of bringing back to life what time destroyed and turning cultural heritage into a real driver of tourism. The experience doesn’t replace a visit to the monuments — it amplifies it. Visitors who virtually walk through the Pimentel castle leave with an emotional connection to the place that completely transforms the way they then explore the streets of Benavente.