Time travel is taking place at Hestercombe

Daniele Agostini has created an app which is giving visitors a chance to experience Virtual Reality when they walk around the gardens and house.

Daniele is a PhD student in Educational Technologies at the University of Padua under the supervision of Dr Corrado Petrucco and before he was a primary school teacher (and before a network engineer).

When he begin his research, he thought very carefully of which teaching method and which technology in the near future would help the most teachers and students He said: “The first stage of my research took place in Verona, where the app, the first prototype, was used to help the cultural association Quartiere Attivo to lead visits to ancient Roman remains in Verona. The classes who took part in the experimentation were composed of about 25 pupils and they had 1 smartphone every 2 of them.

“The guide refers continuously to the app as it was an augmented version of a tourist booklet who propose you very contextualised pictures, short texts, augmented reality and, more important, can show you the place as it was in the past from the very same spot where you stand.

“In some special places, we also used Virtual Reality for an immersive experience in the past of the place we were visiting or to visit the place from perspectives that today are unreachable.

“The first Roman Verona prototype took one year of research and four months of development. The Hestercombe App is based on that prototype.

“The first version of the Hestercombe app was ready in two months, but it is continuously under development.

The advanced feature is the Time Machine allowing you to timetravel and to use the smartphone as a window on the past.

“I will continue to improve it on the basis of my research and of feedback of students and teachers and, who knows, maybe visitors in the future.”