A new immersive installation for JORVIK Viking Centre

XR Stories has supported JORVIK Viking Centre to introduce a new immersive installation as part of its world-famous visitor experience. 

One of York’s most popular visitor attractions, York Archaeology’s JORVIK Viking Centre features a ride that takes visitors through a reconstruction of Viking-age Coppergate in the city of Jorvik in the year AD 960 to delve into life in a Viking settlement.

Before embarking on the ride, visitors see a glass floor with a recreation of the archaeological dig that revealed the preserved remains of Viking houses and backyards.  However, feedback revealed that visitors wanted a stronger focus on the Vikings themselves from the moment they entered the attraction. In response to this feedback, York Archaeology approached XR Stories about commissioning a new immersive installation.

Commissioning for interactive experiences can be competitive and overwhelming, particularly for organisations who have little experience in the field. XR Stories supported York Archaeology to respond to this challenge, supporting development of a brief for a story-led immersive experience and providing a list of innovative small businesses from the extensive XR Stories creative network. 

Together, XR Stories and York Archaeology curated a shortlist of three companies who were all invited to pitch for the new commission and Bright White, a York-based creative design consultancy, were selected to create the new experience. 

During the development process, Bright White used the XR Stories immersive technology R&D lab as a space to install and test a pre-version of the installation with key York Archaeology stakeholders and audiences. 

Built on game-engine technology, the installation is presented to visitors as a large projection before they embark on the ride. JORVIK’s costumed interpreters control and interact with the on-screen narratives which immerse visitors in the different stories of how people arrived and settled in Jorvik. The experience adds a new and immersive dimension to the attraction, opening up the Viking world, before the ride delves into life in the settlement.

Image © Bright White Ltd

Gareth Henry, Director of Public Engagement, York Archaeology, says: “We wanted the introductory experience to really connect people with the idea that they are standing in the exact place that our Viking ancestors would have lived and traded. We needed support to create a brief – to invite people at the leading edge of creativity to develop something that was both innovative and engaging – and that’s where XR Stories came in.  

“We commissioned Bright White because they demonstrated a clear vision of what we could achieve, whilst also incorporating the ability to tell new stories using the same technology.  The result – our Viking portal – is already proving a real hit with staff and visitors alike.”

This collaboration builds on XR Stories’ long-standing relationship with York Archeology that includes the creation of an immersive storytelling experience at York Archeology’s ‘DIG’ attraction.

Published on 17 December 2025