Our visitor experience creates a significant new and inclusive free access resource for our coastal communities and their visitors to engage with, helping to inclusively support a deeper understanding of our natural and cultural environments.  

We include carefully selected artefact display resources. We use evocative visualisations, 3D interactive elements, immersive and interactive Virtual Reality, (VR), mobile Augmented Reality (AR) App, Film documentary and a vivid, original audio composition.  

A series of linked citizen science workshops accompanies the visitor experience based in Waterford.

A series of exciting performance based events accompany the visitor experience in Ceredigion.

Group visits to the Portalis visitor experience can be booked  through our museum partner websites.

A linked mobile Augmented Reality (AR) App is also in development, launching a little later within the Portalis project. Our App links our museum based Legacy visitor experience with our two new cross border cultural and experiential tourism networks currently being established and the existing Irish and Welsh coastal destination experiences. This added resource supports cross border communities and their visitors in availing of curated travel options when planning their cross border visits and accessing the full range of rich natural and cultural environment resources available on the project website. 

Our visitor experience resources support our cross border communities in working together to grow our sustainable tourism networks contribution to our blue and green economies as our coastal communities adapt to climate change impacts, while also working together to help protect our cultural and natural environment. 

To help support the growth of our two cross border networks after our visitor experience launch we also reach out to our more remote coastal communities by providing an inclusive  travelling VR supported Exhibit Pod at both Irish and Welsh network events, providing a sample of the resources available at our on-site museum based visitor experiences.  

Working with local governance, Portalis visitor experience resources are also linked with our local and national Development Plans, Climate Change Action Plans and local Biodiversity Action Plans. Residents and visitors can upload their observations and feedback to the Portalis website resource section, creating a rich resource for future planning. For example, a potential initiative emerging from our Portalis awareness raising events is the linked development of a coastal heritage citizen science based coastal erosion storm warden programme, supported by our Portalis cross border networks. 

As our pilot project draws to a close later this year our temporary visitor experience will evolve into a permanent Legacy visitor experience and will continue to provide a free access community resource for our coastal communities and visitors. The Portalis Legacy Visitor Experience is again based at our two key museums and presents findings from our work, providing continued support for the sustainable development of our two cross-border cultural and experiential tourism networks.  

Portalis is an exciting new cross-border pilot project, within its two visitor experience iterations at Waterford Museum of Treasures in Ireland and Ceredigion Museum in Wales, we create a fully immersive VR experience centered around carefully selected artefacts from Ireland and Wales. Through cutting-edge technology, visitors are able to explore these unique cultural artefacts in a way that has never been possible before.

We worked with our six coastal communities together with our experts to determine the set of requirements to feed into the overall design of the AR/ VR applications. Taking this through the design process to the storyboarding process to determine a narrative approach to bring these artefacts and their usage to life. Visitors to our two Museums have an opportunity now to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of these early artefacts.

With its innovative use of VR headsets and advanced technology, the Portalis pilot project promises to be a game-changer in opening a unique new area within the world of cultural engagement.

The Portalis Virtual Reality (VR) Artefact experience Section 1 and 2 showcases content which is based on archaeological and scientific findings. Section 3 ‘Civilisation’ VR experience is a fictional representation belonging to the Portalis creative team, which is informed by, but not based on, the archaeological and scientific findings of the project.