Trail of Discovery is a 26-mile walking and cycling route celebrating 200 years of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
To complement the physical trail, we created an interactive digital companion featuring augmented reality, podcasts, 3D artefacts, location-based stories and a family-friendly treasure hunt, bringing railway history to life in new and engaging ways.
CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES
What we did
Heritage research and narrative development
Web app development (concept to deployment)
User experience design
Augmented reality development / 3D Content creation
Content production and testing
Objectives
Build a narrative framework that connects physical sites with digital content in a coherent, meaningful way.
Support long‑term innovation in heritage interpretation through scalable, user‑friendly technology.
Challenges
Integrating AR, 3D models, mapping and audio into a lightweight digital companion without overwhelming users.
Designing a guided route that is easy to follow across 26 miles while remaining historically faithful.
IMPACT
The Trail of Discovery combines heritage, technology and storytelling to create a connected visitor experience that extends far beyond the physical route. By blending augmented reality, digital interpretation and location-based exploration, the project offers new ways for people of all ages to engage with the history of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, making one of the world’s most important railway stories more accessible, interactive and enjoyable for modern audiences.
