An immersive augmented and virtual reality adventure that offers a variety of educational and exploratory experiences, Virtual Adventurer will transform how visitors connect to the parks visited.

California State Parks launch of the Virtual Adventurer mobile app allows visitors to experience the visited parks in a whole new way, enhancing the information available to them through augmented reality, for a better connection and interaction with the iconic places, deep history and diverse cultural and natural landscapes of California. The app transports visitors through time, and its virtual reality experiences offer exciting ways for users to explore new perspectives shared by people who continue to call California home.

“We’re excited to launch the Virtual Adventurer app that further provides opportunities for Californians to access the cultural, historic and natural resources found across our beautiful state,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “The app also supports and enhances the department’s Reexamining Our Past Initiative by developing content for parks that tells a more complete, accurate and inclusive history of people and places.”

The new app allows visitors to discover and interact with the people, places, and historical events that define California’s 281 State Parks. New parks will continue to be added to the app, and each park’s content will take visitors on an interactive journey through time, history, and the natural world. Download this app to deepen your connection to California’s heritage, and gain a better understanding of those who call it home.

An impressive list of apps

The Virtual Adventurer app may not appear to have much to do with the filming industry, but that’s not true. As the frontiers between different ways to tell stories vanish, and words as Virtual Reality, Virtual Production and Augmented reality become part of the jargon used by professionals across the industry, there is a market for products like this app. Virtual Adventure was developed by TimeLooper, a company that has designed similar apps for locations as diverse as the Grand Canyon, Pearl Harbor, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, the ancient city of Petra, and key sites from America’s Civil Rights movement.

In fact, TimeLooper is a pioneering Interpretive Experience Design firm committed to enriching the interaction between cultural institutions and the modern visitor. Through the innovative application of cutting-edge technologies – including geographic information systems (GIS) mapping, holographic imaging, and 3D scanning – TimeLooper assists in the creation of stunning, unforgettable Virtual and Augmented Reality-based immersive learning experiences.

TimeLooper continues to revolutionize experiential technologies, remote and virtual programming, on-site interpretation, premium exhibit design, and even entire park systems solutions spanning multiple sites, empowering institutions and interpreters to connect with visitors and tell their stories like never before.

The list of apps created by the company is impressive, and something ProVideo Coalition readers may want to explore. The company says that “as our cultures, societies, and environments (both physical and digital )transform at astonishing rates, changing the way in which we all interact with the world and share information, we at TimeLooper believe our cultural institutions have an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine the preservation, interpretation, and usage of our shared, public spaces. Our services allow for spatial, experiential, and emotional visitor immersion without undue stress on the sites and artifacts themselves, ensuring that cultural institutions can continue to adapt into the future while fostering a deep and lasting connection to our shared knowledge, histories, and ultimately a greater understanding of humanity’s ever-evolving place in the universe.”

One of the most accessible mobile applications

The app now developed for the California State Parks is a recent example of TimeLooper’s passion for what the company does. From storytelling, to holograms, to 3D images and reconstructions, the Virtual Adventurer app offers unique journeys through nine participating state parks. For example, the public can download and travel through Coyote Canyon in today’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, with Maria Jacinta Bastida, an Afro-Latina woman traveling with the Juan Bautista De Anza expedition, or see Chinatown reemerge from the sagebrush at Bodie State Historic Park. The public can continue to check the app regularly as more adventures and stories will be added to the existing parks, as well as more park units will be added to explore.

The Virtual Adventurer app is also designed to be one of the most accessible mobile applications. Users will have access to Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant accessible PDFs, audio descriptions, audio captioning, high-contrast colors, dyslexic font and more—all with the goal of ensuring the highest level of access possible to interpretive and educational content for all park visitors.

“Helping park visitors to create deeper and more meaningful experiences in state parks is vitally important to connecting us all to the rich history of these places,” said Parks California Community Engagement Director Myrian Solis Coronel. “Through this app and emerging digital technology, we hope these tools will help all visitors see themselves as part of these special places and feel a sense of belonging.” Parks California, along with other park partners like Jack London Park Partners, Point Lobos Foundation, Tribal Nations, and university partners are also supporting content development.

“State Parks came to us with a vision to expand the scope of stories told in its parks in a manner that is highly immersive and relevant to today’s park visitors,” said a TimeLooper Principal and Founder Andrew Feinberg. “Virtual Adventurer delivers an easily accessed, fuller accounting of the state’s natural and cultural history through the highly interactive capabilities of augmented and virtual reality.”

Below are the nine state parks currently participating:

• Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
• Bodie State Historic Park
• Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park
• Jack London State Historic Park
• Montaña de Oro State Park
• Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (Oso Flaco Lake)
• Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
• Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
• Sue-meg State Park

To download the app, visitors can scan the QR code above, which directs both Android and iOS device users to their corresponding app store. Download this app today to deepen your connection to California’s remarkably diverse heritage. Even if you can not visit the parks, there is a lot of information that will give you a new perspective on the areas covered.