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This October, families in Weymouth will be able to track down 10 Mexican folk-art inspired ‘Alebrije’ in AR thanks to We Are Weymouth, The Weymouth BID

Click here for all you need to know about how to play

In a first of its kind, We Are Weymouth have teamed up with trail experts High Street Safari to run a free augmented reality trail in Weymouth Town Centre. The trail is completely contactless thanks to its cutting edge QR code, web-based platform, and they say that anyone with a smartphone can take part. The use of augmented reality means that players can not only discover the characters in participating businesses windows, but they actually get to see them burst to life right in front of them. The idea behind the event is to encourage families to come into the centre with a safe, socially distanced and ambitious event. The trail is a story driven experience that players can complete in any order and, while being engaging and fun, is designed to encourage people to get out, do some walking, and discover hidden parts of the town.

The ‘Alebrije’ AR Trail is positioned around the town/city centre with ten magical creatures to find. Alebrije is a form of folk art that originated in Mexico where animals, both real and fantastical, are ornately decorated with colourful patterns and motifs. The ten creatures on the trail have been specially commissioned for the trail and five of them have been modelled in 3D for augmented reality. Once players open the AR they can take selfies or even record movies with the creatures.

The trail takes about forty-five minutes to complete but can be completed in more than one visit. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in and they win an e-book at the end that concludes the story.

The trail works by utilising contactless QR codes, without the need for families to download or sign up to anything. With safety in mind, it has been designed so that there is no need to go inside the venues, but some participating businesses are offering extra incentives to come in while you visit.

When families in Weymouth scan each creature’s unique QR code they’ll learn more of the story and be able to open it in AR. Younger children especially will enjoy spotting the colourful creatures in store windows and older kids, and grown-up ones, will be able to engage by reading the stories and taking selfies.

The trail runs from Friday 15 October

To find out more about the trail, visit the website: highstreetsafari.com/alebrije