About this project

Description:

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The Visconti Castle of Locarno as you have never seen it!

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Thanks to virtual reality, you can literally immerse yourself in the territory of the 16th century and rediscover a famous legend.

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We are proud to announce the triple project that we have been working on for the last year, in collaboration with the City of Locarno. It is the virtual reconstruction of the Visconti Castle of Locarno and the surrounding environment as it was in the 16th century, divided between a more informative part (usable through a modern VR headset), a Free Roaming 3D eploration and a more playful one (in the form of Visual Novel).

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The public of the Castle will be able to wear the VR headsets and immerse themselves in this experience that is sure to fascinate and intrigue all lovers of our history.

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The panorama seen from a tower (no longer existing) of the Castle will give, with a careful historical setting, albeit fanciful here and there, the impression of be in the Castle as it was in the sixteenth century, on the shore of the lake, overlooking the harbor, with some sandy islands where today we find the Delta of the river Maggia. You will be able to discover numerous "points of interest" accompanied by historical and current images and short informative texts about the main monuments of Locarno.

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In parallel to this virtual experience, we have developed a Free Roaming adventure, where it is possible to walk in the Castle (like in a modern 3D videogame) and an intriguing Visual Novel, inspired by the novella of the "Beggar of Locarno" by Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811).

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The intention is to offer a new and innovative way to approach the monumental building and the Visconti Castle Museum.

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"In the last year we have worked very hard on this fascinating project to create something very evocative, well balanced between historical reality and fantasy, between informative and playful, enhancing a territory that we love," explains Tania Maccarinelli of Stelex Software, project manager and 3D artist.

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"We are honored to have received the mandate from the City of Locarno. It was very interesting to work on it because, thanks to the collaboration with Mr. Rodolfo Huber, Director of Cultural Services and Archivist, we learned a lot about the local history. We are very satisfied with the result and we are sure that it will be a nice experience for the local and tourist public. We would also like to thank our collaborators Arianna Rodoni and Michel Palucci for their precious work. All this was possible also thanks to them."

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Development Team:

• Tania Maccarinelli (Switzerland/Tessin): Project Director/3D artist/2D artist/Writer/Programmer (Free Roaming)

• Arianna Rodoni (Switzerland/Tessin): 3D artist/2D artist

• Michel Palucci (Switzerland/Tessin): Programmer (VR)

• Stefano Maccarinelli (Switzerland/Tessin): Programmer (Visual Novel)

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