Speaker: Professor Will Saunders, Chief Creative Officer StoryFutures, Royal Holloway University Creative Lead, StoryTrails

StoryTrails is a deep dive into our collective history – a magical VR and AR immersion into the hidden histories that have shaped 15 UK towns and cities. This immersive experience was completely free and aimed at reaching diverse and curious audiences of all ages who might not have experienced immersive storytelling before. It was designed for Unboxed, a major festival of creativity across the UK in 2022 and was one of ten  STEAM projects selected from over 300. It brought together partners including Royal Holloway University and The National Film and Television school’s national centre for immersive storytelling, StoryFutures, the BFI, the BBC, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, Nexus Studios, ISO Design, Niantic,  Produce UK, and The Reading Agency.   We set out to tell the stories of under-represented  communities in 15 different towns and cities across the UK through AR, VR and the very latest in immersive storytelling showcased through their local library. Crucially those stories would be told by fifty emerging creatives who were either from or had strong ties to those places and who represented groups of people under-represented across the UK’s creative industries.