Barcelona Cathedral augmented reality app lets visitors rediscover city's iconic sites

Barcelona Cathedral has launched a new augmented reality experience that allows visitors to discover Barcelona's iconic sites from the rooftop of the cathedral. 

'La Talaia de Barcelona,' allows visitors to explore the city in 360 degrees and access information about 45 points of interest, using an electronic device provided by the cathedral 

The sites are divided into three categories: buildings and monuments, religious buildings and natural heritage. 

Some of the iconic places that can be seen are the Camp Nou, the Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Montjuïc hill, and the Torre Glòries.  

The app works by pointing with the camera in any direction, and if the camera detects an iconic site it will show the point of interest. By clicking the red circle that appears, the app will give you information about the place. 

The app 'Talaia de Barcelona' is available in seven languages: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, and Korean.  

Jaime Solano, director of GVAM, the company behind the app, said the goal is to let visitors get to know a bit more about the environment of the city itself.  

"The app works based on the direction the phone and the person are looking," Solano said. "It is composed of a gyroscope, geopositioning, and a bit of artificial intelligence. All this combined helps it to recognize what the visitors are looking at." 

GVAM is a company that is dedicated to developing apps for guided tours through immersive experiences in museums.  

Since 2018, the cathedral has implemented different guides for tourists, starting with audio guides and visual content for visitors. In 2023, a virtual reality experience was also introduced.  

The new augmented reality experience launched on Tuesday along with the reopening of the cathedral's roof and is included in the price of accessing the roof.