PROJECT

An Augmented Reality tour of the British Museum, telling the history of artefacts from the perspective of the people they were stolen from.

Business Challenge

The British Museum is the world’s largest receiver of stolen goods, but young audiences have only heard the imperialist version of how they got there. VICE World News aimed to grow its audience while staying true to its editorial mission of covering under-reported issues like colonialism. Connecting with a younger readership beyond only news headlines and social media was of utmost importance.

HUMAN PERSPECTIVE

We can’t change the past. But we can change how we choose to engage with it in the present. The Unfiltered History Tour educated young Britons about their cultural history, using a tool they were intimately familiar with: Instagram filters.

LAB PROCESS

Instagram filters were developed by a 100-person strong team working remotely for 18 months across 10 timezones. A local team in London anonymously gathered data using LiDAR technology.

LAB PROCESS

AR technicians accounted for changing light conditions inside the museum by developing an Instagram filter based on real-time weather to adapt dynamically, in a first of its kind filter that blends satellite data with Augmented Reality. Museum visitors could then scan the Museum’s stolen artefacts with their phones to unlock the tour.

OUTCOME

The final tour was used over 100,000 times by visitors to the British Museum, while the global audience had access to immersive audio-visual experiences and extended podcasts hosted on The Unfiltered History Tour microsite. The project resulted in 18 million impressions, a 40% rise in VICE World News TikTok followers and an endorsement by former UN Under-Secretary General, Shashi Tharoor.