'Tarragona entre blau i verd' | 17 Augmented Reality experiences on the Anella Verda trail

TECHNOLOGY

IMMERSIVE TECH

USE CASE

TOOL

CLIENT

Tarragona City Council, through the Tourism Sustainability Plan "Tarragona entre blau i verd", spearheaded the digital transformation of the Anella Verda's historical heritage: a ring of paths integrating over 17 sites spanning different eras, from Roman times to the Civil War.

GOAL ACHIEVED

Create an Augmented Reality trail accessible from any smartphone, making the region's historical heritage comprehensible and exciting for every visitor — no app required, available in six languages.

Historical heritage accessible from any smartphone

A land, centuries of history

Tarragona is a city where time accumulates in layers. Roman aqueducts, ancient quarries, medieval castles, coastal watchtowers and Civil War bunkers coexist along the Anella Verda, a ring of paths surrounding the territory. An extraordinary heritage that needed a vehicle capable of making it comprehensible and exciting for every visitor.

As part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan "Tarragona entre blau i verd", Tarragona City Council — with Nexus Geographic as technology partner for the route platform — entrusted DeuSens with creating the immersive content: 17 Augmented Reality experiences distributed along the route, accessible from any smartphone with no app download required.

17 recreations, 17 unique stories

The heart of the project is 17 historical 3D recreations for each point on the route — from the Roman Aqueduct of Pont del Diable to Mas d'en Cosidor, taking in the Mèdol quarries and Punta de la Creueta, Castell de Tamarit, Torre de la Mora, the Llorito Sanctuary, Castell de Ferran, the Eco-Historical Gardens, the mouth of the Gaià river, and the Civil War bunkers at Tamarit beach and Roca del Gaià. Each point features a different 3D recreation: period characters in motion, reconstructed architecture, natural elements growing in real time, animated scenes of everyday life, or floating virtual galleries with images of the site.

Throughout, a narrator guides the experience, recounting the history of each place: who lived there, how it was built, what happened at that point in the territory and why it deserves to be remembered. The content — approximately 18,000 words per language — was written with historical validation by Tarraco specialist Òscar Martín Vielba and biology experts for natural environments, and recorded in six languages by professional voice artists: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, German and Dutch.

The web app works via geolocation: as visitors walk the Anella Verda trail, push notifications activate the AR experience for the nearest point. An integrated map allows orientation and route planning. For first-time visitors, QR codes installed at each site provide direct browser access — no installation required.

Technology and history at the service of heritage

The project also included production of a 360° video covering all 17 route points, serving as an audiovisual summary of every recreated scene and era.

With accessible, multilingual content validated by specialists, "Tarragona entre blau i verd" stands today as a benchmark for how immersive technology can serve local heritage — enriching the visitor experience and reinforcing the cultural value of the territory.