Matmi Gets Steamy…With West Somerset Railway!

Far from the geeky train spotter stereotype, the team at West Somerset Railway are a brilliant, incredibly forward thinking team.

Inspired by the Smiler app we produced for Alton Towers, they wanted something fresh and exciting to offer their existing customers, yet also to raise the profile of this beautiful heritage railway line that runs through the Somerset countryside and coast between Bishops Lydeard (nr. Taunton) and Minehead.

To both entertain and educate old and new audiences, West Somerset Rail commisioned Matmi to design and develop a free app that combines history & heritage with new technology & travel; allowing users a a fantastic day out whilst learning about the history of the line, its stations, locomotives and local area.

The idea is that people can discover and learn about the area surrounding the railway, so we have introduced a Gamified Augmented Reality element to app to really encourage this desire for “Discovery” which was so important to the team.

The app will feature an ‘Augmented Reality Heritage Hunter’ (Treasure Hunt) in which users will have to find hidden ‘targets’ at or near our stations to unlock 3D moving images and content.  Complete with a “top trumps” style engine scrapbook and the option to share progress on Facebook and Twitter with friends and family, we are really excited about this release!

The app features include: AR Scanner, Collectables Scrapbook,  Locomotive Scrapbook as well as general West Somerset Railway tickets, prices and timetables and much more – watch this space.