Ipswich Borough Council has commissioned six custom-built Virtual Binocular units across the town centre, Waterfront, and Christchurch Park.
These immersive devices use Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to recreate Ipswich in different ways, able to transport the viewer to alternate realities, into the past or even into the future of our fine town. We want to showcase Ipswich’s rich history in an engaging, innovative way and celebrate our incredible heritage and bright future.
We hope they will encourage your exploration of key areas, helping you enjoy our town, its heritage, its local businesses and thriving cultural scene.
The units are designed for all ages and abilities, with eyepieces at different heights and no need for smartphones or apps. You don’t need to sign up to anything, you simply get to enjoy the view!
The first of the exciting trails to be launched is our trip back in time, showing Ipswich as it appeared in the 1890s Victorian era, offering residents and visitors a unique, interactive heritage experience.
View a dock full of ships, a market place filled with vendors or watch our predecessors ride the tram through the town.
The images and sounds change with the time of day so no viewing will feel the same.
You can find a page for each binocular and where to find them below.
You can also download a map kindly curated by our friends and partners from the Historic Towns Trust which shows the locations on a map from 1904, so you can see the town as it was then too.
Photographs from the Ipswich Maritime Trust’s Image Archive helped inform what you see and the content on this website.
Members of the Ipswich Maritime Trust, the Historic Towns Trust, the towns’ Tourist Guide Association and other wonderful members of the public shared their expertise on the history of Ipswich to help guide the designs and keep them accurate.
Our partners at Zubr have made the technology a reality and supported the project at every step, designing the first content themselves and ensuring these are a fantastic addition to Ipswich.
This initiative is part of Ipswich Borough Councils’ Digital Ipswich programme, funded by the UK Government’s Towns Fund, and positions Ipswich as the first UK town to provide this technology free to the public in a street-based setting.
Brought to you by Ipswich Central, the Business Improvement District (BID) for the town centre and waterfront thanks to Ipswich Borough Council and Towns Deal funding.
The copyright of all content on this site, including images, belongs to Locus Management Solutions Ltd. Company registered in England.
Registration No: 5339846. Registered Office: The Master’s House, 19 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 1AQ.