Vitré is a mediaeval city in France that’s been dubbed “The City of Art and History” due to its rich historical and cultural heritage. It is also the home of a unique light-art installation that combines projections + augmented reality. The city recently installed a nocturnal light tour, entitled “Vitré Lumières,” to highlight the city’s rich history. The lighting scheme for this tourist attraction was conceived by Quartiers Lumières in partnership with Noctiluca. This interactive tourist attraction features numerous Rosco Image Spot fixtures projecting Custom Glass Gobos that, when combined with an Augmented Reality mobile app, provide a unique experience of the city’s past.
“Vitré Lumières” is comprised of over forty gobo projections – or “vitrégraphies” – that highlight emblematic buildings, embellish walls and guide visitors. As night falls, mediaeval castles, merchant houses, mansions and churches are lit up with eye-catching images that literally shed light on key moments in the city’s history.
The atmosphere of magic is heightened when some of these “vitrégraphies” are activated with the Vitré Lumières app on a smartphone or a tablet. Using gobo markers on their smart device, the app turns the projected images into short, augmented reality video clips or soundtracks that uncover fascinating, dreamlike stories of overseas merchants and vitreous explorers that underscore the city’s openness to the world.
The images were designed by Aymeric Reumaux to be easily identifiable by a wide range of smartphone cameras. Our London facility took Reumaux’s designs and turned them into Custom Black & White Gobos. Lionel Bessières, President of Quartiers Lumières, specified Rosco’s 5500K, IP65-rated Image Spot gobo projectors to project the imagery. The fixtures’ compact size made them easy to install around the city, while their powerful output, precise optics, and range of Lens Optics ensured bright, sharp projections all year round. Lionel commented: “Rosco Image Spot projectors were chosen for the quality of their optics and their small size allowing optimal discretion in an important patrimonial context. The three lenses available – narrow 19º, medium 25º, and wide 30º, made it possible to achieve the intentions of all 42 projections implemented.”
“Vitré Lumières” is a long-term and evolving project that will be adapted for each season. If you ever find yourself in the Vitré area (a little over 300km west of Paris), be sure to explore this spectacular light tour, and then come back again during a different time of year for a new experience.
If you’d like to see more photos and videos from this installation, and to see other projects from Quartiers Lumieres, visit their website: quartierslumieres.com. To learn more about the products that they used to create the gobo projections in this augmented reality experience, please visit the Image Spot and Custom Glass Gobo product pages on the Rosco website.