Success story · Itainnova · Turismo de Aragón

Loarre XR

90%

approval in the user study

Case summary

A virtual recreation of Loarre Castle that brings one of Spain's least accessible Romanesque monuments closer to people with reduced mobility and cognitive difficulties.

Loarre Castle is an 11th-century Romanesque fortress at the foot of the Aragonese Pyrenees: one of the most important medieval monuments in Spain and at the same time one of the least physically accessible. Within the European Digitourism programme, Itainnova and Turismo de Aragón drove a pioneering project to show that immersive technologies can make tourism accessible to people with reduced mobility or cognitive difficulties. The answer is LOARRE XR, a virtual recreation of the castle inside and out that accompanies visitors before, during and after the visit.

Client

Itainnova · Turismo de Aragón

Sector

Tourism

Service

Experiencias inmersivas XR

2,200 m2

Of the castle virtualised.

50 people

With reduced mobility validated it.

90%

Consider it the perfect complement.

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01 The challenge

Making one of Spain's least accessible monuments accessible

Many of Spain's great heritage monuments present accessibility barriers that are very hard to solve: narrow staircases, steep terrain, towers and battlements, underground rooms. Loarre Castle, perched on the rock at the foot of the Aragonese Pyrenees, is an extreme example: its historical value is enormous, but so are the access difficulties for people with reduced mobility or cognitive difficulties. Itainnova and Turismo de Aragón, within the European Digitourism programme, set out to show that immersive technologies can turn an inaccessible medieval fortress into an experience truly enjoyable by every audience.

02 The solution

A virtual twin of the castle inside and out

The solution is LOARRE XR, a virtual recreation of the Romanesque castle inside and out that serves as a guide before, during and after the visit. Visitors explore the castle's different areas —including hidden zones or those that are hard to reach physically— through 360º photographs, gamified challenges and Virtual Reality experiences, on a virtual twin covering the castle's 2,200 square metres and its surroundings. The experience was validated by 50 people with mobility and cognitive difficulties, in collaboration with Centro Somontano Social, with 90% of participants recognising the proposal as the perfect complement to the in-person visit.

Next step

Conseguimos digitalizar un castillo medieval de más de diez siglos. ¿Qué podríamos conseguir con tu empresa?

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Key learnings

What this case teaches the sector.

La visita se prolonga en el antes, el durante y el después.

El valor de un gemelo virtual patrimonial no está solo en la visita, sino en su capacidad de acompañar al visitante en los tres tiempos: preparar el viaje antes de llegar, contextualizar el recorrido durante la visita presencial y prolongar la experiencia de vuelta a casa.

La accesibilidad amplia la propuesta turística.

Diseñar un producto digital con accesibilidad universal no reduce su calidad ni su atractivo para el resto de públicos. Todo lo contrario: la gamificación, la Realidad Virtual y las fotografías 360º que hacen accesible el castillo a personas con movilidad reducida enriquecen también la visita del turista sin limitaciones.

La validación con usuarios reales es la prueba definitiva.

Que una experiencia funcione en el laboratorio no significa que funcione con la audiencia real. Validar el gemelo virtual con 50 personas del Centro Somontano Social y obtener un 90% de aprobación es la diferencia entre un producto bien intencionado y una solución que cumple su promesa social.

La accesibilidad universal deja de ser un ideal cuando existe la tecnología para asegurarla.

Muchos monumentos históricos son inaccesibles por razones estructurales imposibles de modificar sin comprometer su valor patrimonial. Un gemelo virtual del castillo permite a personas con movilidad reducida o dificultades cognitivas acceder al mismo patrimonio con el mismo nivel de detalle que el visitante que sube físicamente hasta las almenas.

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